retired_mwilson

The Off-Season

After his talk with Mellaerts, Jules decided to take off a couple of weeks to clear his head and to simply enjoy life. He spent a couple of weeks travelling through Belgium as he genuinely was interested in learning about the culture and history of his forefathers. As a beer lover, he was also constantly being surprised by the ingenuity and skill of the Belgians in not only making beer from the most unlikely combinations but also making it taste good. He also learnt a lot about the long and fractured history of what was modern day Belgium and why the current co-existence of the Flemish and Walloons seemed more like a marriage of convenience than a single national entity. Unity only seemed to be achieved when faced with a common enemy or when some social or sporting event occurred which temporarily seemed to remove the cultural barriers. However, to Jules, the Belgian co-existence seemed infinitely preferable to the crazy outpourings of nationalism which Europe and the world had seen in the past decade or two.

Jules also decided to visit England once more to catch up with friends and acquaintances at his former workplace and to simply visit London once more. For Jules, London was truly the most cosmopolitan, varied and interesting city in the world. He had visited New York, Los Angeles, France, Milan and most other major cities in the past but there was simply something about London that intrigued Jules more than any other city he had been to. However, 4 weeks of traipsing around Europe was enough and by time he returned from London, he was ready to get on with the task of ensuring Willebroek’s survival in the Belgian 2nd Division.

retired_mwilson

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Player Movements

The off-season could be summarised in a single word for Jules Jackson, namely FRUSTRATION. He hadn’t expected the acquisition of players to be easy, however, with a well filled transfer kitty, even by 2nd Division standards, he expected to be able to acquire at least a couple of new starters and hopefully 3-4 starting calibre players. However, despite his willingness to overpay both in terms of transfer fees and salaries, he had no luck in significantly improving the quality of the squad with new acquisitions as the only new players brought in were free transfers inexpensive players with hopefully the potential to be first team players 2-3 years down the track.

Player Acquisitions
Matthais Wuillaert , 17yo MC was signed on a free transfer after he was cut by Club Brugge. Wuillaert seemed to have the potential to be the type of creative midfield force Jules felt his club currently lacked but it would be at least a couple of years before Wuillaert was likely to play a role of significance for the club.

Thomas Meeuwsen , 24yo AM/F C was signed as a free transfer from non-league amateur club Ranst. With the anticipated loss of Gilles de Bilde, a more experienced player was needed to serve as 4th of 5th striker and Meeuwsen was a 6 footer with a few skills who seemed as if he could fill this role.

Jason Duchatelet , 21yo ST was signed from Union SG in the Belgian 3rd Division to complete for one of the backup striker roles. He was the antithesis of Meeuwsen in that he was the short nippy type of striker who should suit the more counter attacking style of play.

Latif Janneh , 24yo ST was signed as a free transfer from non-league amateur side Sassport Boezinge in the hope that he could play a target man role for the club. Janneh was suffering from a broken leg when signed but Jules hoped that he could provide a physical presence up front, especially on bad pitches which were prevalent during the wet long Belgian winter.

Nick van Goethem , 21yo D RLC was signed as a free transfer from 3rd Division RC Waasland to serve as backup for both fullback position. While Nick probably did not have much more improvement in him, Jules felt that his versatility would make him the perfect bench player and if he did develop, so much the better.

Emilien Dentz , 20yo DC was signed on a free transfer from French 2nd Division side Valenciennes to serve as backup and hopefully develop into a starter a couple of years down the track. From what the Willebroek scouts reported, Emilien looked like the prototypical central defender physically but his lack of pace and aggression may have been what allowed Valenciennes to let him leave without complaint.

The haul of players lined up to sign with Willebroek in on the 1st of July was therefore totally unimpressive. No players of starting quality, especially 2nd Division starting quality had been signed or even seemed likely to be signed in the future. The annoying thing for Jules was that even though the club had the money to buy better quality players and the willingness to pay (and overpay) players handsomely for coming to the club, this had not been enough inducement for players to sign with what most regarded as a club that would quickly be relegated once more.

retired_kristinb9184

Really get stuck into the transfer market. It pays to scroll for ages through pages of playerrs. Most are useless, but you'll be rewarded for it - with the next George Best or similar.