retired_loubou

August, the first month of the football season…

Sunday 1st August:

Both the board and the fans are very delighted with the way I’m running the club and they are in full support of my management.

I looked at my manager profile at the start of the month:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Ability to handle pressure 8 sameAmbition 10 sameLoyalty 9 sameMedia handling 19 sameProfessionalism 13 sameTemperament 12 sameReputation ok same </pre>

My assistent manager came in my office to ask me which tactic I would use. I gave him this paper:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ^ Mendoza, A Casas, G ^ | | | | Ceh, N Verheyen, G Englebert, G Kallstrom, K ^ ^ | | | |Van der Heyden, P Diogo, C Clement, P De Cock, O Butina, T </pre>

Tuesday 3rd August:

There was some transfer news today as Man Utd have signed Real Madrid’s Roberto Carlos. The Red Devils payed €12,25M for the left back. He rejected the contract offer of Chelsea.

Thursday 5th August:

The draw for the European Champions Cup Third Qualifying Phase was made today and we would face a very though opponent. The first leg is played in Celtic Park as we will face Celtic. The first game is on 18 August 2004. I wasn’t happy with this draw as there were much easier teams to draw.

Friday 6th August:

Middlesbrough were the first team to ask me how much I wanted for Kallstrom. I wasn’t ashamed to ask them €15M plus 50% if they sell him to anyone else. I don’t think they will be intrested in him for that price. Espanyol came with the same question and they got the same reply.

Saturday 7th August:

We had to play the Super Cup final today against Genk. (I decided to try to write an other style of match updates, hopefully it’s good enough to keep you reading.)

Hard fought Cup win for the Champions.

Club Brugge have retained the Belgian Super Cup for the second time under manager Björn Noppe. Last year they defeated La Louvière with 3-0 and now 29972 fans saw a great game which ended 2-1 for Brugge against Genk. Casas made a great debut as he scored the first goal in the game. Their lead was doubled later by Mendoza. Kpaka pulled one back for Genk in the second half.

Both of Brugge’s striker scored thanks to Kallstrom, who saw a perfect game crowned with two assists. But the real man of the match was without a doubt Davy Schollen as he prevented Brugge from trashing his team. Casas’ goal was a very nice one and he was very happy with it he said after the game. He immediately showed the fans of what he is capable of. Mendoza’s goal later in the first half was a big relief for the manager and he hopes that he will score even more.

Final score: Club Brugge 2 – Genk 1
Scoreline: Casas 15 min 1-0; Mendoza 25 min 2-0; Kpaka 54 min 2-1
Attendance: 29972 (new record)
Bookings: none
Player ratings: Butina 8, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 6, De Cock 5, Verheyen 7, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 7 (Lange 62 min 7), Mendoza 6, Ceh 7

Sunday 8th August:

Juventus have won the Italian Super Cup for the fourth time since their excistence. They beated Inter Milan with 3-1 thanks to a brace from Del Piero and a goal from Di Vaio. It started very good for Inter as Recoba scored the first goal of the game in the 31st minute.

Monday 9th August:

Boro letted me know that they weren’t intrested in Kallstrom for that price. I didn’t care. A bit later on that day I got the same news from Espanyol.

Also today there were the First Division title odds. Anderlecht were made favourites to win the division this season and they were placed at 6-4. We were placed at 7-4, Standard at 16-1 and Genk and Sint-Truiden were placed at 20-1.

Saturday 14th August:

Today I had to confirm the squad number for the forthcoming season. I gave Casas nr. 99.

Sunday 15th August:

The English Community Shield was won by Man Utd again this afternoon.They defeated Chelsea with three against two.

Also today Sampdoria signed Petr Cech from Rennes for €3.9M

Wednesday 18th August:

Scott Parker, one of the many talented youngster playing in England, moved today from Charlton to Newcastle. They had to pay €9M for the midfielder.

Brugge lucky or unlucky?

Both teams could have come out as winners after the game but at the end no-one did. Celtic had the most chances but they always found Butina in their way and Brugge had a penalty chance in the 70th minute but Ceh’s nerves and the class of man of the match Allaway had a big deal in the misser.

As everyone expected Celtic immediately started to attack but the first ten minutes were for Brugge as they had the nices chance but both Casas and Mendoza couldn’t score. From then on the biggest chances were for Celtic but Butina played a great game and he prevented Larsson and co from scoring. Some people will say that Brugge were lucky to get away with a draw but they could have won the game if Ceh would have scored the penalty in the 70th minute. One thing is sure it will be a very exciting game at Jan Breydelstadion in 2 weeks.

Final score: Celtic 0 – Club Brugge 0
Attendance: 52694
Bookings: Van der Heyden, De Cock, Casas (yellow)
Player ratings: Butina 7, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 5, Clement © 7, De Cock 5, Verheyen 7, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 7, Mendoza 7, Ceh 7

[This message was edited by bjorn on 08 January 2004 at 10:05.]

[This message was edited by bjorn on 08 January 2004 at 10:06.]

retired_loubou

Thursday 19th August:

Betis completed the signing of Real Madrid’s Fernando Morientes for a fee of €19,75M. The Spanish striker was very pleased to leave Bernabeu as he wasn’t in the manager’s plans since a long time.

Today I also received an email from Malaga as they wanted to know how much I wanted for Kallstrom. They received the same offer I wanted from the other teams in an email I send back.

Saturday 21st August:

Malaga informed me that they aren’t intrested anymore in Kallstrom. I wonder why this is?

Tuesday 24th August:

The Belgian FA informed me that the transfer deadline for Belgian clubs is in one week.

Friday 27th August:

Lange was very unhappy as I declared my intrest in Shakhtar’s Julius Aghahowa. I didn’t reacted onto it and then he made an outburst to me and then I told him he shouldn’t worry about my intrest in the player.

There was also some other news today as Newcastle signed Zenden from Chelsea for a fee of €6,75M.

Saturday 28th August:

Today Giovanni van Bronckhorst moved from Arsenal to Lazio. Last year’s champions cup winner splashed out €11,5M for the dutch international.

Inter Milan have confirmed the signing of Udinese’s David Marcelo Cortez Pizarro for a fee worth €18M depending on appearances.

Sunday 29th August:

Jon Dahl Tomasson moved today from Milan to Spanish side Barcelona. The once so great club in Spain paid €8M for the striker.

Shakhtar accepted my €6,75M offer for Aghahowa and we can now start with discussing a contract. He is willing to come and if he does he will be our best paid player at the club.

Newcastle bought another player as today they brought in Arsenal’s Francis Jeffers for a total of €13,25M.

Monday 30th August:

Today we have signed Julius Aghahowa from Shakhtar. We paid them €6,75M for their player. Although we don’t have any money left now for transfers I’m sure he is worth every cent. He is still out for three weeks and I’m sure when he is ready to play he will make a big impact. The chairman told me that this could be Brugge’s most significant transfer of recent time.

Roma have signed Inter Milan’s Ariel Ortega for €13,25M.

September, the big start of the competition and hopefully the Champions Cup.

Wednesday 1st September:

Today the transfer deadline started and we also had to face Celtic to see who will progress to the group stages.

Brugge stroll trough after a great game.

Brugge have qualified for the second time in two years under their manager Björn Noppe after a 2-1 win at home over Celtic. Although the game didn’t start very well for the Belgian Club. Petrov putted Celtic on roses after 4 minutes but thanks to their workrate and a goal from Lange in the first half and a Verheyen goal in the second half they were qualified.

The game started very well for Celtic because after four minutes they took the lead as Petrov finished of Larsson’s great pass. Even after that goal Celtic were the better team, until the 40th minute when Diogo played the ball to Verheyen, who played it on for Lange. His shot was unstoppable for Hedman. Brugge came out of the dressingrooms as the better team, but an easy given penalty in the 55th minute almost blew everything for Brugge. Celtic thought they were trough but they didn’t count on Butina as he saved the penalty. Five minutes later Celtic were punished for this mistake as Verheyen scored the winning goal. So Brugge are back in Europe…..

Final score: Club Brugge 2 (2) – Celtic 1 (1)
Scoreline: Petrov 4 min 0-1; Lange 40 min 1-1; Verheyen 60 min 2-1
Attendance: 29944
Bookings: De Cock, Ceh ; Miller, O’Brien (yellow)
Player ratings: Butina 9, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 6, Clement © 7, De Cock 5, Verheyen 8, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Lange 6, Saeternes 7, Ceh 8

Other teams going trough. (The “losers” will enter the Uefa Cup)
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Champiosn Cup Uefa Cup Dinamo is progressing despite AEK Ajax is progressing despite Slavia Prague M. Haifa is progressing despite Austria Vienna Anderlecht is progressing despite Barcelona :eek: Benfica is progressing despite Galatasaray Betis is progressing despite Grasshopper Dortmund is progressing despite APOEL Arsenal is progressing despite FC Copenhagen Besiktas is progressing despite Flora Maribor is progressing despite M. Tel-Aviv Partizan is progressing despite Marseille Dinamo Kiev is progressing despite Shakhtar Sparta Prague is progressing despite Rosenborg Milan is progressing despite Zilina </pre>

We have to wait until Liverpool plays his game to know who our contesters will be in the Group Phases.

Friday 3rd September:

Liverpool have won the European Super cup after a penalty shoot-out. The final score before the shoot-out was two all. In the shoot-out it was 2-4 for the Uefa Cup winner.Liverpool deserved the win because they controlled the game most of the time.

Saturday 4th September:

The first playday got underway today as Charleroi and Sint-Truiden drawed three all. La Louvière lost their first home game with 2-3 against Lokeren. And the last game of the day ended in a win for Mouscron, who played at home, against Lierse. The final score was 3-2.

Sunday 6th September:

AA Gent won their first game of the season with 2-1 at home against Antwerp. Cercle Brugge started their season with a 0-0 draw at home against Anderlecht while Standard lost in and against Genk with 1-0. Newly promoted Oostende managed to get a draw at home against Beveren while the other promoted team, Roeselare, started even better as they won at home with 2-1 against Westerlo.

Brugge win at Kiel

Brugge have won their first game in the competition thanks to a goal by Lange. Germinal Beerschot got the best chances of the game and they can feel like they’ve been stolen. Van Dooren’s sending off in the 54th minute didn’t help GBA either.

Brugge got off to a good start in the competition as they won in Germinal Beerschot with the narrowst win possible. The only goal of the game came when Mendoza crossed the ball from the left towards Lange. He controlled the ball before he placed it in the low right corner. GBA had the best chances of the game but once again Butina, who was the man of the match, was in a sensational form as he stopped every shot from Beerschot. When Van Dooren was sent off in the 54th minute with his second yellow card of the game, GBA knew that it would be tough. They tried to pull one back but they couldn’t finish of their chances. So Marc Brijs’ men will have to do better in their next games if they want to finish in the top three.

Final score: Germinal Beerschot 0 – Club Brugge 1
Scoreline: Lange 38 min 0-1
Attendance: 12349
Bookings: Hoefkens, Thompson ; Van der Heyden, Diogo (yellow)
Sent off: Van Dooren 54 min (2 x yellow)
Player ratings: Butina 9, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Verheyen 7, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Lange 8, Mendoza 7, Ceh 7

retired_loubou

Monday 6th September:

Liverpool were the last team who qualified for the group phases of the Champions Cup today. Rapid lost with 4-1 over two legs and now they will go to the Uefa Cup.

Today were the draws for the Group Phases. Here is the full draw:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Team CountryGroup A: Betis SPA Man Utd ENG Monaco FRA Partizan SCGGroup B: Benfica POR Juventus ITA Olympiakos GRE Sparta Prague CZEGroup C: CLUB BRUGGE BEL AC MIlan ITA Rangers SCO Real Madrid SPA Group D: Besiktas TUR FC Bayern GER Liverpool ENG PSV NEDGroup E: Dinamo Kiev UKR Lazio ITA Maribor SVN Real Sociedad SPAGroup F: Ajax NED Anderlecht BEL Inter Milan ITA VFB Stuttgart GERGroup G: Chelsea ENG Dinamo CRO Dortmund GER PAO GREGroup H: Arsenal ENG Lyon FRA M. Haifa ISR Porto POR </pre>

Well one things is almost sure and that is that we won’t qualify for the next round this year. We really got the toughest group of them all and I would be very happy if we could take the third spot so we can enter the Uefa Cup. The group matches will start on 21st September 2004

Wednesday 8th September:

Today was the draw for the Belgian Cup 6th round. In that round we will face third division club Seraing RUL. Last season they ended in 9th position in the same division and so far they are in first position after two games. The game is played in their stadion on 21st November 2004.

Friday 10th September:

Here are the title odds for the European Champions Cup:

Real Madrid and Man Utd 6-1, Juventus and Milan 9-1, FC Bayern and Inter 11-1.
I’m surprised to see that Lazio isn’t within the top six to win the Cup this season. We were placed at 25-1, which I’m proud of.

Saturday 18th September:

Brugge on right track for Tuesday.

First division Champions Club Brugge easily overcame newly promoted team Oostende at Jan Breydel. A brace by Peruvian striker Mendoza, and a goal by Casas made it a convincing 3-0 win. Oostende couldn’t do nothing else then watch how they were played away.

Brugge started furious at the game with some warning shots by Englebert and Kallstrom. Aghahowa also played his first game this season in a Brugge shirt and he played a great game. The first goal came when Ceh swung in the corner to the near post. Aghahowa was there and he headed it on for Mendoza, who just had to tip in the ball. In the second half Casas added his goal when Mendoza passed the ball to him. He dribbled past Van Rumst before he slotted the ball home. With just 15 minutes to play Mendoza scored his second goal of the game. Aghahowa played the ball to Casas, who saw Mendoza unmarked at the second post. He played the ball up to him and just like his first goal, he only had to tip in the ball. Mendoza came out as the man of the match.

Final score: Club Brugge 3 – Oostende 0
Scoreline: Mendoza 39 min 1-0; Casas 62 min 2-0; Mendoza 75 min 3-0
Attendance: 13537
Bookings: De Cock, Clement; Crv, Portier, Jordens (yellow)
Player ratings: Butina 6, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 8, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 9, Ceh 7

Anderlecht won with 1-0 against Germinal Beerschot while Antwerp – Cercle Brugge ended one all. Beveren won at home against Mouscron with 1-0 and Lokeren lost at home with 1-2 against a good playing Genk. Sint-Truiden and Roeselare scored two each and the last game today ended in a win for the away team as La Louvière won in Westerlo with 0-1.

Sunday 19th September:

Lierse surprisingly lost at home against Charleroi. The final score was 0-1. Standard played a superb game at home against AA Gent as they won with 4-0.

retired_loubou

Tuesday 21st September:

Just before the game with Milan I received the news that Philippe Clement was out for a week with a damaged neck injury. Maertens will replace him.

Andres, man of the match, Mendoza!

Brugge have schocked the football world by winning at home against Milan. Manager Björn Noppe can thank Mendoza as he was one of the reasons they won the game. He scored a brace in the first half. Shevchenko’s goal in the 61st minute made it a thrilling second half. But thanks to a great Butina and a good playing Diogo they’ve won the game.

Milan started as the favourite but just like last year Brugge surprised Milan. Last year they managed to get a draw at San Siro and now they’ve beated them at Jan Breydelstadion. In the 14th minute Englebert played the ball towards Mendoza, who was on the left wing. He continued unopposed and everyone thought he would cross the ball to Lange, who replaced Casas in the first team, but instead he tried his luck from an narrow angle. Dida was surprised by this shot and he couldn’t react to it. After half an hour of football Brugge got a corner kick. Kallstrom chipped it into the area where Mendoza headed it towards goal. Dida saved it but he couldn’t save Mendoza’s rebound shot and so they lead by 2 against 0. In the second half Simic played a long ball towards Shevchenko. Maertens couldn’t reach the ball and the Ukrainian striker beated Butina to make it very exciting. From then on Milan pushed forward but they failed to finish the chances they created and so Brugge got of to a good start in Group C.

Final score: Club Brugge 2 - AC Milan 1
Scoreline: Mendoza 14 min 1-0; Mendoza 31 min 2-0; Shevchenko 61 min 2-1
Attendance: 29942
Bookings: De Cock; Gattuso (yellow)
Player ratings: Butina © 8, Diogo 8, Van der Heyden 5, Maertens 7, De Cock 7, Verheyen 7, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Lange 5 (Saeternes 73 min 7), Mendoza 9, Ceh 7

Elsewhere in Spain Real Madrid won against Rangers with 3-1 to complete the other game in our group. Castillo, Zidane and Raul made it 3-0 before Lovenkrands pulled one back. I still can’t believe we actually beat them. But we should stay with our feet on the ground as we are far from qualified. Also after the game I received the news that De Cock is banned for the next Champions Cup game.

retired_loubou

Thursday 23rd September:

Juventus’ David Trezeguet is out for two months with a torn groin muscle and the fans aren’t happy to see one of their best players being injured. Hopefully for Juve they can hold together without him.

Friday 24th September:

The third playday got underway today as AA Gent lost again, this time at home, against Lokeren with 0-2.

Saturday 25th September:

Charleroi and Beveren drawed today with two all while Genk stayed unbeated as they won with 2-0 at home against last placed Westerlo. Meanwhile La Louvière won at home against the revelation of last year, Sint-Truiden, with 3-1.

Sunday 26th September:

Cercle Brugge slumped to a defeat at home against Standard while Germinal Beerschot managed to win their first game of the season. Oostende where the losing team against them with 0-2. Lierse got away from Roeselare with a 0-2 win.

Brugge gone with Genk.

This evening Brugge managed to win at Le Canonnier to be the only club, together with Genk, that didn’t lost this season. Brugge won very easy at Mouscron thanks to a goal from Casas and Mendoza’s brace. Mouscron couldn’t do much as they were totally outclassed.

Brugge had the Milan game in the back of their minds as they started very furious but keeper Martin prevented them from early scoring. In the 34th they finnaly scored the first goal when Mendoza served Casas. Just before the half-time rest it was otherwise as Casas served Mendoza this time. In the second half Casas got a second assist as once again he gave the final pass for Mendoza. The Peruvian scored his second goal of the game and his seventh goal of the season. Mouscron weren’t bad the whole time as their best player, Zewlakow, almost pulled one back but he was denied by Butina. And so the game ended with an easy win for Brugge. Manager Björn Noppe had nothing but praise for his new signings as they established them very well in Belgium.

Final score: Mouscron 0 – Club Brugge 3
Scoreline: Casas 34 min 0-1; Mendoza 45 min 0-2; Mendoza 48 min 0-3
Attendance: 10661
Bookings: Zewlakow; Maertens, Englebert (yellow)
Player ratings: Butina © 8, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Maertens 7, De Cock 6, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 7 (Verheyen 65 min 6) , Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 9 ( Lange 65 min 7), Ceh 7

Antwerp lost at home against Anderlecht with 0-2.

October will bring us….

Friday 1st October:

Both the board and the fans were delighted with the way I was performing. The fans were also delighted with the signing of Aghahowa.

Then we had the Goal of the Month for the first time this season:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1) Zézéto for AA Gent vs. Antwerp2) Vervaeke for Roeselare vs. Westerlo3) Mahieu for Oostende vs. Beveren </pre>

My manager profile looked like this:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Ability to handle pressure 6 2 downAmbition 11 1 upLoyalty 7 2 downMedia handling 17 2 downProfessionalism 11 2 downTemperament 10 2 downReputation ok same</pre>

Charleroi are the next victims.

Brugge continue they’re good form as they trashed Charleroi with 4-1 at Jan Breydelstadion. A Mendoza brace and a goal each by Casas and Ceh sealed Charleroi’s fate. Macquet scored a goal to make things level again early in the game but that was the best they could do as they were tottaly blown away. Kargbo even got sent off in the 86th minute.

Brugge got off to a flyer in this game as in the first minute Casas centred the ball, which was head in by Mendoza. Charleroi fought back and they equalised trough Maquet; but then Brugge got in second gear and all hope was gone for “de zebra’s.” On the half hour mark Mendoza doubled his tally when he headed in Ceh’s corner. In the second half Casas added his goal in two times as his first attempt was saved by Laquait. The fourth, and final, Brugge goal came in the 69th minute when Ceh scored a free kick from 25 yards out. Four minutes before the end of the game Kargbo was sent off with his second yellow card of the game. So our conclusion is: this was too easy for Brugge.

Final score: Club Brugge 4 – Charleroi 1
Scoreline: Mendoza 1 min 1-0; Macquet 13 min 1-1; Mendoza 31 min 2-1; Casas 52 min 3-1; Ceh 69 min 4-1
Attendance: 16567
Bookings: Ghislain (yellow)
Sent off: Kargbo 86 min (2 x yellow)
Player ratings: Butina 5, Diogo 8, Van der Heyden 8, Clement © 7, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 7 (Verheyen 68 min 7) , Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 9 ( Lange 65 min 7), Ceh 7

Saturday 2nd October:

Anderlecht easily took distance from Oostende as they beated them with 3-1 while Beveren won against Roeselare with 2-1. Germinal Beerschot lost at home against Mouscron with 0-1 while Lierse kept the points at home in a 2-0 win over La Louvière. Lokeren - Cercle Brugge and Sint-Truiden - Genk both ended in one all. Standard won at home against Antwerp with 2-0 while Westerlo and AA Gent both scored once

retired_loubou

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by I'm Not Ruud:
Go Brugge! Unstoppable it seems!

Keep up the great work! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Ruud

Yep so far we are unstoppable, but how long will it last is the question.

retired_loubou

Wednesday 6th October:

Brugge are top against Scotland.

Today Brugge proved that they aren’t a “little Belgian” team but that they belong to the sub-top in Europe, as they easily won in and against Rangers for the second game of the Group Phases. Ceh opened the score for Brugge and the lead was doubled by Mendoza five minutes before the end of the first half. Three minutes into the second half Casas brought his season total to five as he made it 0-3. Ross’ goal in injury time was too late for the Gers.

Brugge got off to a brilliant start at Ibrox as Ceh opened the score after he was left with a simple finish, after Klos saved Mendoza’s attempt. The whole first half was totally controlled by Brugge as it looked like Brugge were only training. In the 39th minute something strange happened. Casas fired a shot at goal which was blocked by Ostenstad. The ball ran loose but Klos didn’t even try to take it and Mendoza was left with a simple finish. In the second half the first chance was for Brugge again and it was a goal immediately. Kallstrom lifted the corner into the area and Mendoza powered a header at goal which took a deflection of Casas, and that final one got the goal on his name to make it 0-3. Rangers fought back from then on and they were dangerous trough Ostenstad and Lovenkrands, but it was defender Maurice Ross who scored, what looked nothing else then, a consoltation goal in injury time.

Final score: Rangers 1 - Brugge 3
Scoreline: Ceh 5 min 0-1; Mendoza 39 min 0-2; Casas 48 min 0-3; Ross 90+1 min 1-3
Attendance: 43715
Bookings: Ricksen, Moore; Diogo, Ceh
Player ratings: Butina 8, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 6, Clement © 7 (Rozehnal 70 min 6), Maertens 6, Verheyen 7, Englebert 7 (Verheyen 65 min 6) , Kallstrom 7, Casas 7 (Saeternes 70 min 7), Mendoza 8, Ceh 7

Elsewhere in Italy Milan won against Real Madrid with a small 1-0 as Shevchenko scored the only goal of the game in the first minute. Because of this result we are on top with six points. I never dared to dream about this. Hopefully we can continue our good form.

retired_loubou

Saturday 9th October:

AA Gent – Sint-Truiden and Antwerp - Lokeren both ended on 2-2 while Charleroi lost at home against Germinal Beerschot with 1-2. Genk defeated Lierse with 3-2 while La Louvière and Beveren ended one all. Oostende managed to win in and against Mouscron with 0-2. The last game today ended in a 2-1 win for Standard against Anderlecht.

Sunday 10th October:

Brugge and Casas do the job against Roeselare.

Even without Mendoza, who was away with his national team, Brugge won their fifth game away at Roeselare. Casas opened the score for Brugge early in the game. Roeselare fough back and they surely deserved the equaliser but poor finishing and a good keeping Butina prevented them from coming back. When Casas scored his second of the game in the 79th minute the game was over for Roeselare.

Brugge first goal came in the 12th minute when Diogo intercepted a pass from Barbé. He played it on to Lange who crossed the ball into the area for Casas. The Argentinian striker, who is in sensational form, jumped higher then the rest and headed the ball against the back of the net. From then on Roeselare fought back and they got some nice chances trough their strikers duo, Vervaeke and Troch, but they were stopped by Butina. Delplanque almost got the equaliser in the 55th minute but his attempt stranded on the woodwork. Brugge hitted Roeselare on the counter attack in the 76th minute and the game was played when Casas finished it off. Casas is really playing great as so far he scored a goal a game average.

Final score: SV Roeselare 0 – Club Brugge 2
Scoreline: Casas 12 min 0-1; Casas 76 min 0-2
Attendance: 8800
Bookings: Lahousse, Delplanque, Troch; Englebert
Player ratings: Butina 9, Diogo 8, Van der Heyden 6, Clement © 8, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 8, Kallstrom 7, Lange 7, Casas 9, Ceh 4

In the other game this evening Cercle Brugge easily won with 4-2 against Westerlo.

In other news Clement picked up a knock in our game and he will be out for 2 weeks with a gashed leg.

Monday 11th October:

Stoica entered my office and told me that he should be in the first team, if not he wants to move. I told him he would be selected when the time is right and placed him on the transferlist. The club fans started a poll if Stoica should be in the squad and the decision was 0% yes – 100% no – 0% undecided.

Diogo also departed from the club as he had to play with the –21 of his country in a couple of days.

Wednesday 13th October:

There was mid-week football planned today as everyone had a game to play.

Midfielders in action!

Club Brugge, without Clement(inj.),Diogo and Mendoza (int.), easily trashed La Louvière with 3-0. One of the biggest reason, if not THE reason for this win were the midfielders as Aghahowa’s brace and Ceh’s penalty goal made the difference. It’s very hard to find a good thing about La Louvière in this game as they didn’t even create a chance. Maybe Brugge is to big for Belgium, maybe it’s just a lucky form at the moment.

Aghahowa played his fifth game in a Brugge shirt today and it was his best game so far. He opened the score for Brugge in the 17th minute. Lange’s shot was fisted away by Proto, but it went right into Aghahowa’s feet. All he had to do was score on an empty net. Mamouni’s sending off for protest didn’t help La Louvière. All they could do after that was hoping they didn’t conceed to much. Aghahowa scored his second goal of the game trough a corner kick from Ceh, which Julius headed in. Six minutes into the second half Brugge were awarded a penalty after de Condé pushed Lange in the area. Ceh stepped up and scored it and it was game over for La Lou. Brugge shifted down a gear but they still had the chances to score. Proto prevented them, so that’s at least one good point for La Louvière.

Final score: Club Brugge 3 – La Louvière 0
Scoreline: Aghahowa 17 min 1-0; Aghahowa 45 min 2-0; Ceh pen 51 min 3-0
Attendance: 16434
Bookings: Vangeffelen
Sent off: Mamouni (protest 2x yellow)
Player ratings: Butina 7, Maertens 7, Van der Heyden 7, Gvozdenovic 7, De Cock 7, Aghahowa 9, Englebert 8, Kallstrom 7, Lange 7 (Saeternes 62 min 7), Casas 8, Ceh 8

Anderlecht continued their good form as they easily putted Mouscron away as they won with 4-0 while Beveren was humiliated at home against Genk as they crushed to a 1-4 defeat. Germinal Beerschot won with 3-1 against Roeselare and Lierse easily won against AA Gent with 3-0. Lokeren - Standard ended two all while Oostende won at home against Charleroi with 2-1. Sint-Truiden are unable to find last year’s form as they drew 2-2 at home against Cercle Brugge. Westerlo won with 3-0 against Antwerp, who now are in last position.

retired_loubou

Friday 22nd October:

Lokeren managed to keep Anderlecht at a draw as the game ended one all.

Saturday 23rd October:

Genk can’t stop Brugge.

This evening Genk tried to put Brugge’s good form to a stop at Fenix Stadion, but it didn’t work. Brugge made the difference in the second half thanks to a Casas goal and a Mendoza goal. It looked like Genk could come back in the game after Thijs converted a penalty, but a few moments later Mendoza added his second of the evening to settle the final score.

In the first half we saw that both teams tried to score but both Butina and Carini did their job very well. In the second half it looked like Brugge waited long enough as they pushed for goals. When Ceh chipped the free kick in the area Casas jumped higher then the rest and headed the ball into the back of the net. A good ten minutes later Van der Heyden played the ball up to Ceh, who now had the ball on the left wing. He played it in front of Mendoza, who was unmarked, and you know what happens then? Indeed he scores. In the 77th minute Genk got back in the game when the referee awarded a penalty for a little foul by De Cock on Roussel. Thijs converted it and the fans of Genk believed in it again. But they didn’t believe in it for long as Kallstrom played a nice trough ball for Mendoza, which he finishes off.

Final score: Genk 1 – Club Brugge 3
Scoreline: Casas 48 min 0-1; Mendoza 61 min 0-2; Thijs pen 77 min 1-2; Mendoza 82 min 1-3
Attendance: 22757
Bookings: Mokoena, Kpaka,
Player ratings: Butina 9, Diogo 7, Van der Heyden 7, Clement © 7, De Cock 6, Aghahowa 7, Englebert 7, Kallstrom 7, Casas 8, Mendoza 9, Ceh 7

Because of this victory we maintain our unbeaten run in the league, which now is already eighteen games without a defeat.

Antwerp managed to win at home against Sint-Truiden with 3-1 while Charleroi and Mouscron didn’t find the way to the net. The last game today saw Germinal Beerschot win in and against La Louvière with 0-2.

Sunday 24th October:

Cercle Brugge trashed Lierse with 3-0 while the newly promoted teams faced each other. Neither Roeselare nor Oostende found the way to the goal. AA Gent - Beveren ended 4 against 2 while Standard drew level with Westerlo. The final score was two all.

Shermanez

Congratulations on your panel selection bjorn, this story deserves it.