Charlieblade
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Some Bladey optimism in there. Good to see.
United World 2022/23
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Champagneblade
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Chateauroux's season starting to seriously unravel.
Decent highlights reel here as they went down 3-0 at home to Le Mans.
Poor finish from Ntolla at 0-0. Terrible marking. Great shot. Terrible marking. Look a bit of a soft touch at the moment.
Sadly defence was one of the stronger set ups with Delecroix in goal, then Youssouf, Ouaneh, Basque and Mbengue nd midfield missing the threat of Sunu through injury and Grange in the bench but with Viltord as number 6 flanked by N'Goma and Mexique. Ndour injured so an impotent forward line of Ntolla, Roux, Bianchini. Nowhere near enough goals in this team.
Grange came on at 61 mins for Mexique, Sangante for Viltord and later Bozkurt for Roux and Mendy for Ntolla. All to no avail.
Calls for the Manager's head but also comments about poor recruitment. 17/23 out of contract in the summer so strategy the next few weeks will be interesting. Do they see it out, hope they don't go down? - 6 do this time as they make it 3 leagues of 18. Or do they make a strong window and try to catch up? No margins for error for the Coach now.
Pressure really on the Coach now. Some iffy recruitment in the summer but languishing in 12th, albeit 6 points off second, wasn't in the plan. Coach under real pressure as they face a home game against bottom club Stade Briochin, who mustered one win all season.
A loss and the Coach night not make the other side of the mid-season break!
Decent highlights reel here as they went down 3-0 at home to Le Mans.
J13 I LB Châteauroux - Le Mans FC (0-3)
Le Mans FC a signé sa première victoire de la saison en déplacement en s'imposant lundi en clôture de la 13e journée (3-0) sur la pelouse de la Berrichonne de Châteauroux. Ce succès permet aux Sarthois de faire un bond au classement, de la 13e à la 7e place, et de sortir de la zone rouge. Ils...
ffftv.fff.fr
Poor finish from Ntolla at 0-0. Terrible marking. Great shot. Terrible marking. Look a bit of a soft touch at the moment.
Sadly defence was one of the stronger set ups with Delecroix in goal, then Youssouf, Ouaneh, Basque and Mbengue nd midfield missing the threat of Sunu through injury and Grange in the bench but with Viltord as number 6 flanked by N'Goma and Mexique. Ndour injured so an impotent forward line of Ntolla, Roux, Bianchini. Nowhere near enough goals in this team.
Grange came on at 61 mins for Mexique, Sangante for Viltord and later Bozkurt for Roux and Mendy for Ntolla. All to no avail.
Calls for the Manager's head but also comments about poor recruitment. 17/23 out of contract in the summer so strategy the next few weeks will be interesting. Do they see it out, hope they don't go down? - 6 do this time as they make it 3 leagues of 18. Or do they make a strong window and try to catch up? No margins for error for the Coach now.
Pressure really on the Coach now. Some iffy recruitment in the summer but languishing in 12th, albeit 6 points off second, wasn't in the plan. Coach under real pressure as they face a home game against bottom club Stade Briochin, who mustered one win all season.
A loss and the Coach night not make the other side of the mid-season break!
Champagneblade
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It didn't take much time for my note to circulate around United World Towers as HRH and United World have now sacked Mathieu Chabert.Chateauroux's season starting to seriously unravel.
Decent highlights reel here as they went down 3-0 at home to Le Mans.
J13 I LB Châteauroux - Le Mans FC (0-3)
Le Mans FC a signé sa première victoire de la saison en déplacement en s'imposant lundi en clôture de la 13e journée (3-0) sur la pelouse de la Berrichonne de Châteauroux. Ce succès permet aux Sarthois de faire un bond au classement, de la 13e à la 7e place, et de sortir de la zone rouge. Ils...ffftv.fff.fr
Poor finish from Ntolla at 0-0. Terrible marking. Great shot. Terrible marking. Look a bit of a soft touch at the moment.
Sadly defence was one of the stronger set ups with Delecroix in goal, then Youssouf, Ouaneh, Basque and Mbengue nd midfield missing the threat of Sunu through injury and Grange in the bench but with Viltord as number 6 flanked by N'Goma and Mexique. Ndour injured so an impotent forward line of Ntolla, Roux, Bianchini. Nowhere near enough goals in this team.
Grange came on at 61 mins for Mexique, Sangante for Viltord and later Bozkurt for Roux and Mendy for Ntolla. All to no avail.
Calls for the Manager's head but also comments about poor recruitment. 17/23 out of contract in the summer so strategy the next few weeks will be interesting. Do they see it out, hope they don't go down? - 6 do this time as they make it 3 leagues of 18. Or do they make a strong window and try to catch up? No margins for error for the Coach now.
Pressure really on the Coach now. Some iffy recruitment in the summer but languishing in 12th, albeit 6 points off second, wasn't in the plan. Coach under real pressure as they face a home game against bottom club Stade Briochin, who mustered one win all season.
A loss and the Coach night not make the other side of the mid-season break!
Replaced by his assistant, the wonderfully named and dashing 50-year old, Maxence Flachez.
He'll be assisted by a former Chateauroux manager in Dominique Bijotat, who has one of the most uncomplimentary Wikipedia write ups I've seen!
"On 4 June 2010, FC Metz officials hired the former Châteauroux coach with the objective of leading the team back to Ligue 1 within two years.
His spell ended up in a nightmare as Metz was relegated in May 2012 in National for the first time, the French third division, before the last game of the season. He was even asked by the Chairman not to coach the team for the last game at home."
I'd imagine they'll see through until the December break and either they'll have made a good play for it themselves or the Prince and team has the best part of a month to get a salvage plan.
One last job Sharon
Champagneblade
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So, to this weekend’s action as both United World teams from the Continent approach their mid-season break.
For Beerschot, they have some momentum now.
Despite taking their foot off the grass they managed to add a fifth consecutive victory, bringing home the points 3-2 away at Dender.
In what is now a very familiar line up, with the exception of Nzita who was nursing a knock they lined up 3-4-3:
Lathouwers; Konstantopoulous, Matthys, Van den Bergh; Seydoux, Rigo, Sanusi, Weymans; Verlinden, Baeten, Thorisson.
A foul on Rigo by Rowell gave Baeten the opportunity to stroke home from the spot. A few minutes later the lead was doubled as a Rigo corner was put away by Verlinden. This was the score at half time.
The lead was then further extended when a rebound fell kindly to Thorisson to give the score a satisfying look with all three forwards on the scoresheet.
Foot off the gas a little did cause a scare.
A bad back pass on 74 allowed sub Ngongo to reduce the arrears. Then further concern as a minute later fellow sub Atteri made it 3-2. Sebaoui came on for Verlinden on 82 and a more defensive Alhassan for Baeten as Beerschot in the dying embers aimed to protect the lead. This was the case and made it an satisfactory 15/15 in the league and sees Beerschot in 1st with Waasland-Beveren a point behind in 2nd but RWDM losing have a cushion now of 4 points to third.
SL16, the Standard Liege seconds, on the 12th at home and then away to 8th placed Deinze on the 18th before breaking off until the 22nd of January when it will be first vs second and we’ll into the January transfer window.
Over at Châteauroux things are far from settled.
New coach Maxence Flachez had his first game in charge against what is termed ‘The Red Lantern’ both in France and Belgium, the team in last place. Unfortunately despite overcoming an early set-back to eventually take the lead in the second half, they were unable to remain in the ascendancy and had to settle for a home draw. As six go down this season, this drops them precariously into the 6th relegation spot and now 7 points from the promotion spots. How they could do with a Beerschot run of results.
The line up was not earth shattering from that of the last coach with a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1!look to it.
Delecroix remained in goal with a back four the same as recent matches, comprising right to left; Youssouf, Ouaneh, Basque and Mbengue. The back 5 is picking itself these days with the only variation being who partners Ouaneh between Sangante, the regular captain and Basque. I don’t see any of these remotely making the grade as far as United. The keeper is in the veteran stage and the defenders 28, 24, 27 and 29 with Sangante being 31. At best, though there isn’t perhaps the need, Ouaneh could go to Beerschot if they go up.
In midfield the trio of Viltard who is just 20, lined up alongside Sangante, 31 with Grange, 34, just off the striker. Sums up where they are. They have to be achieving now. Viltard you could keep an eye on as a decent no 6 but he belongs to Sochaux. Grange is their best player in my view. But at 34 and having missed a season through injury l, they need to manage him carefully. He tops the scoring charts with 3 goals, despite only being involved in 9 matches and they were not all starts
Up front they had Bianchini, 21, on loan from Amiens, who flatters to deceive, N’Goma, 29, coming back from injury. The first I’d be happy for them to send back. His output has been far too low and he’s missed plenty. The latter is probably at the level. Leading the line was Ndour, only 21, might be worth seeing how he does with better players backing him up but unclear what consistency he can hit.
Anyway, to the game and poor marking from a set piece saw Châteauroux fall behind in the early part of the match. They did get a penalty for handball which N’Goma put away confidently in the roof of the net to give them parity at the break.
They thought that early set back was behind them when N’Goma pulled back for Sangante who placed a nice shot into the top right corner. Unfortunately having taken the lead on 49, they were level on 64, Mbengue with an unfortunate handball with Delecroix going the right way but it nestling in the corner. Mexique, 27, replaced Sangante on 55 and Grange was rested for Ntolla on 74, all to nil effect.
So, something to build on the new coach will have you believe but at home to bottom and not winning is not a good start.
More bad news was that Châteauroux have been under scrutiny along with Nancy and Red Star around their finances which means now they will be forced to adhere very closely to the budget set at the start of the season and it could be one in, one out in January. In relative terms, the Prince gave it a go last term, they had a big squad last term (which has now reduced from 30 to 23) and now they are sailing close to the wind. French Fair Play has long been quite strict for the regularly run clubs with relegation often a sanction for financial mismanagement. So offloading may be the issue in January. In the summer they have 17/23 players out of contract, so similar to Beerschot this past summer, a big rebuild could be on the cards.
For January, they have to question if Ahoussou, a left centre back aged 18 not getting picked and Germouche, a forward on loan and also not getting picked, can be sent back to their parent clubs. Although he’s a starter, not convinced Bianchini brings that much to the table either. They have a left back Sans who never exerts any pressure on Mbengue. Given the state of those mentioned I’d think a 6 month loan of Gomis to them, who can play left centre back or left wing back would not be the worst for all parties if they can push out Sans and Ahoussou. Likewise this could have been a reasonable option for Ayari before he seemed to fall out of love with United. He’s Tunisian so he must have gotten used to a French speaking environment. I think he’d bring more than Germouche. Otherwise not sure where United may help them here. Not sure throwing random British players is going to work and Beerschot have a very compact squad so offer little this season to the wider group.
Next up Villefranche away and Sedan at home, with two wins relatively vital to keep aspirations of going up alive and thoughts of going down away from the door. The fans are starting to think treading water is better than the unthinkable but it remains to be seen if the Prince decides to give it a push but with the added scrutiny it will need a bit of wheeler dealing. Likewise not clear if they’ve given Flachez the job until the window to give him a chance before entertaining an outsider or if they have a belief he can move the team forward.
Like Beerschot, they also go on winter break, after the 16th and return on the 8th of January vs PSG.
Could be a busy January for the Prince!
For Beerschot, they have some momentum now.
Despite taking their foot off the grass they managed to add a fifth consecutive victory, bringing home the points 3-2 away at Dender.
In what is now a very familiar line up, with the exception of Nzita who was nursing a knock they lined up 3-4-3:
Lathouwers; Konstantopoulous, Matthys, Van den Bergh; Seydoux, Rigo, Sanusi, Weymans; Verlinden, Baeten, Thorisson.
A foul on Rigo by Rowell gave Baeten the opportunity to stroke home from the spot. A few minutes later the lead was doubled as a Rigo corner was put away by Verlinden. This was the score at half time.
The lead was then further extended when a rebound fell kindly to Thorisson to give the score a satisfying look with all three forwards on the scoresheet.
Foot off the gas a little did cause a scare.
A bad back pass on 74 allowed sub Ngongo to reduce the arrears. Then further concern as a minute later fellow sub Atteri made it 3-2. Sebaoui came on for Verlinden on 82 and a more defensive Alhassan for Baeten as Beerschot in the dying embers aimed to protect the lead. This was the case and made it an satisfactory 15/15 in the league and sees Beerschot in 1st with Waasland-Beveren a point behind in 2nd but RWDM losing have a cushion now of 4 points to third.
SL16, the Standard Liege seconds, on the 12th at home and then away to 8th placed Deinze on the 18th before breaking off until the 22nd of January when it will be first vs second and we’ll into the January transfer window.
Over at Châteauroux things are far from settled.
New coach Maxence Flachez had his first game in charge against what is termed ‘The Red Lantern’ both in France and Belgium, the team in last place. Unfortunately despite overcoming an early set-back to eventually take the lead in the second half, they were unable to remain in the ascendancy and had to settle for a home draw. As six go down this season, this drops them precariously into the 6th relegation spot and now 7 points from the promotion spots. How they could do with a Beerschot run of results.
The line up was not earth shattering from that of the last coach with a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1!look to it.
Delecroix remained in goal with a back four the same as recent matches, comprising right to left; Youssouf, Ouaneh, Basque and Mbengue. The back 5 is picking itself these days with the only variation being who partners Ouaneh between Sangante, the regular captain and Basque. I don’t see any of these remotely making the grade as far as United. The keeper is in the veteran stage and the defenders 28, 24, 27 and 29 with Sangante being 31. At best, though there isn’t perhaps the need, Ouaneh could go to Beerschot if they go up.
In midfield the trio of Viltard who is just 20, lined up alongside Sangante, 31 with Grange, 34, just off the striker. Sums up where they are. They have to be achieving now. Viltard you could keep an eye on as a decent no 6 but he belongs to Sochaux. Grange is their best player in my view. But at 34 and having missed a season through injury l, they need to manage him carefully. He tops the scoring charts with 3 goals, despite only being involved in 9 matches and they were not all starts
Up front they had Bianchini, 21, on loan from Amiens, who flatters to deceive, N’Goma, 29, coming back from injury. The first I’d be happy for them to send back. His output has been far too low and he’s missed plenty. The latter is probably at the level. Leading the line was Ndour, only 21, might be worth seeing how he does with better players backing him up but unclear what consistency he can hit.
Anyway, to the game and poor marking from a set piece saw Châteauroux fall behind in the early part of the match. They did get a penalty for handball which N’Goma put away confidently in the roof of the net to give them parity at the break.
They thought that early set back was behind them when N’Goma pulled back for Sangante who placed a nice shot into the top right corner. Unfortunately having taken the lead on 49, they were level on 64, Mbengue with an unfortunate handball with Delecroix going the right way but it nestling in the corner. Mexique, 27, replaced Sangante on 55 and Grange was rested for Ntolla on 74, all to nil effect.
So, something to build on the new coach will have you believe but at home to bottom and not winning is not a good start.
More bad news was that Châteauroux have been under scrutiny along with Nancy and Red Star around their finances which means now they will be forced to adhere very closely to the budget set at the start of the season and it could be one in, one out in January. In relative terms, the Prince gave it a go last term, they had a big squad last term (which has now reduced from 30 to 23) and now they are sailing close to the wind. French Fair Play has long been quite strict for the regularly run clubs with relegation often a sanction for financial mismanagement. So offloading may be the issue in January. In the summer they have 17/23 players out of contract, so similar to Beerschot this past summer, a big rebuild could be on the cards.
For January, they have to question if Ahoussou, a left centre back aged 18 not getting picked and Germouche, a forward on loan and also not getting picked, can be sent back to their parent clubs. Although he’s a starter, not convinced Bianchini brings that much to the table either. They have a left back Sans who never exerts any pressure on Mbengue. Given the state of those mentioned I’d think a 6 month loan of Gomis to them, who can play left centre back or left wing back would not be the worst for all parties if they can push out Sans and Ahoussou. Likewise this could have been a reasonable option for Ayari before he seemed to fall out of love with United. He’s Tunisian so he must have gotten used to a French speaking environment. I think he’d bring more than Germouche. Otherwise not sure where United may help them here. Not sure throwing random British players is going to work and Beerschot have a very compact squad so offer little this season to the wider group.
Next up Villefranche away and Sedan at home, with two wins relatively vital to keep aspirations of going up alive and thoughts of going down away from the door. The fans are starting to think treading water is better than the unthinkable but it remains to be seen if the Prince decides to give it a push but with the added scrutiny it will need a bit of wheeler dealing. Likewise not clear if they’ve given Flachez the job until the window to give him a chance before entertaining an outsider or if they have a belief he can move the team forward.
Like Beerschot, they also go on winter break, after the 16th and return on the 8th of January vs PSG.
Could be a busy January for the Prince!
PurpleRain
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I don’t think we will see a lot of transfer activity. Hopefully none of the first eleven are sold. A few loan players could be a good idea. Last season we got Caicedo from Brighton. If you can bring in similar quality for a small loan fee then that would be top business.
Champagneblade
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So sandwiched neatly between Croatia knocking out Brazil and Argentina seeing off The Netherlands in similar fashion was the slightly less glamourous visit to Villefranche Beaujolais of La Berrichone de Chateauroux. Famous for Beaujolais Nouveau, the young French wine, with the much bigger town of Lyon within a short drive that's where we find ourselves this Friday.
The newly promoted Coach's second game in charge after last week's slightly underwhelming home draw against joint bottom.
He seems to have made a slight tweak to the line up, going closer to a 4-2-3-1 than the 4-3-3 or 5-3-2 of his previous boss. It's often the same players in minimal changes but with injuries there were enforced changes.
Delecroix remained in goal. Mbengue, regular left back was injured so as is customary in these cases, Youssouf moved over from right back, allowing Fouda to play there. With Sangante injured and Basque stepping into the 2 man defensive block with Viltard, there was a rare start at left centre back for the 18 year old giant Ahoussou. Further forward, Ntolla and Bianchini flanked N'Goma with Ndour just up front on his own.
Chateauroux had plenty of possession and we're often just lacking the final ball or indecision at the key moment. Despite an even first half, Chateauroux went behind on around 22 minutes. A really unnecessary, clumsy challenge by Viltard, who has otherwise been a bright spot for Chateauroux, gave Sergio the chance to expertly dispatch to the keepers far right side.
A disappointing setback. Not long before, a ball across to Ndour saw the striker dally a little and I thought get clipped in the process, however naively, or honestly, he stayed on his feet and the question didn't get asked. Just before half time, Delecroix set pulses racing dropping a couple of crosses uncharacteristically.
Trailing at half time, no changes of note for either team.
Wind forward ten minutes and N'Goma, probably the most threatening of the outfield players got on the end of a cross, did a clever shimmy and scored after some good work from Bianchini in the build up. There followed a period of pressure when Ndour headed well and the keeper blocked with his legs and Basque hit the post.
More injury bad news followed as Youssouf went off with Basque dropping to left back and Mexique taking over in midfield. He was busy when he came on and Basque had been playing a few decent passes. Meanwhile Ahoussou and especially Ouaneh were having good games at centre back and this was the best I'd seen Fouda play going forwards.
Up front they changed Ndour for Bozkurt in what was like taking off Bambi on ice and replacing with last week's raffle winner. Bozkurt has stepped up from R2 which is well down the league ladder and whilst he's got a good size, he's very raw and unsurprisingly miscontroled with his first touch, though did improve. Both wingers, though Bianchini contributed to the goal were anonymous for long periods. If Chateauroux has any aspirations remaining or merely to avoid getting sucked into relegation they really need two or three better forward players.
So nothing much more to say. Grange came on for a little over 10 minutes, far too late to make an impact. A draw, not a defeat but they are desperate for a run of wins. Next week they play Sedan at home before signing off for the winter break. They could really do with 3 points. Concarneau have 29 from 14, Versailles 26 from 15 but sitting on 18 from 15 in 13th is really precarious. This is the last relegation spot so some serious thinking is needed I'm January, made complicated by the recent financial restrictions places upon them. In excluding Nolan Roux, probably a big wage earner, there is clearly an effort to push him off the wage bill. A good run could still get them back into the mix but they could equally sleepwalk to relegation if they do nothing. Yesterday's opponents are on the same points so a chance missed given Chateauroux did more of the pressing.
Elsewhere, Beershot dropped to second without playing. They play Monday. Waasland-Beveren or Beveren SK as they are now known thumped Anderlecht U23s 4-1 so leapfrog at least until Monday. For the window if Beerschot signed nobody but lost nobody then it would still give them a chance though not necessarily a decisive move. But it is over in France where more major surgery is needed.
The newly promoted Coach's second game in charge after last week's slightly underwhelming home draw against joint bottom.
He seems to have made a slight tweak to the line up, going closer to a 4-2-3-1 than the 4-3-3 or 5-3-2 of his previous boss. It's often the same players in minimal changes but with injuries there were enforced changes.
Delecroix remained in goal. Mbengue, regular left back was injured so as is customary in these cases, Youssouf moved over from right back, allowing Fouda to play there. With Sangante injured and Basque stepping into the 2 man defensive block with Viltard, there was a rare start at left centre back for the 18 year old giant Ahoussou. Further forward, Ntolla and Bianchini flanked N'Goma with Ndour just up front on his own.
Chateauroux had plenty of possession and we're often just lacking the final ball or indecision at the key moment. Despite an even first half, Chateauroux went behind on around 22 minutes. A really unnecessary, clumsy challenge by Viltard, who has otherwise been a bright spot for Chateauroux, gave Sergio the chance to expertly dispatch to the keepers far right side.
A disappointing setback. Not long before, a ball across to Ndour saw the striker dally a little and I thought get clipped in the process, however naively, or honestly, he stayed on his feet and the question didn't get asked. Just before half time, Delecroix set pulses racing dropping a couple of crosses uncharacteristically.
Trailing at half time, no changes of note for either team.
Wind forward ten minutes and N'Goma, probably the most threatening of the outfield players got on the end of a cross, did a clever shimmy and scored after some good work from Bianchini in the build up. There followed a period of pressure when Ndour headed well and the keeper blocked with his legs and Basque hit the post.
More injury bad news followed as Youssouf went off with Basque dropping to left back and Mexique taking over in midfield. He was busy when he came on and Basque had been playing a few decent passes. Meanwhile Ahoussou and especially Ouaneh were having good games at centre back and this was the best I'd seen Fouda play going forwards.
Up front they changed Ndour for Bozkurt in what was like taking off Bambi on ice and replacing with last week's raffle winner. Bozkurt has stepped up from R2 which is well down the league ladder and whilst he's got a good size, he's very raw and unsurprisingly miscontroled with his first touch, though did improve. Both wingers, though Bianchini contributed to the goal were anonymous for long periods. If Chateauroux has any aspirations remaining or merely to avoid getting sucked into relegation they really need two or three better forward players.
So nothing much more to say. Grange came on for a little over 10 minutes, far too late to make an impact. A draw, not a defeat but they are desperate for a run of wins. Next week they play Sedan at home before signing off for the winter break. They could really do with 3 points. Concarneau have 29 from 14, Versailles 26 from 15 but sitting on 18 from 15 in 13th is really precarious. This is the last relegation spot so some serious thinking is needed I'm January, made complicated by the recent financial restrictions places upon them. In excluding Nolan Roux, probably a big wage earner, there is clearly an effort to push him off the wage bill. A good run could still get them back into the mix but they could equally sleepwalk to relegation if they do nothing. Yesterday's opponents are on the same points so a chance missed given Chateauroux did more of the pressing.
Elsewhere, Beershot dropped to second without playing. They play Monday. Waasland-Beveren or Beveren SK as they are now known thumped Anderlecht U23s 4-1 so leapfrog at least until Monday. For the window if Beerschot signed nobody but lost nobody then it would still give them a chance though not necessarily a decisive move. But it is over in France where more major surgery is needed.
Champagneblade
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Here were the goals from the previous weeks games for those of you that like to look at goals 
Châteauroux 2-2 Stade Briochon:
Dender 2-3 Beerschot
Villefranche 1-1 Châteauroux
Off to Beerschot to round off the weekend and the cocky little bastards have only gone and won again! That’s now a remarkable 6 wins in succession and takes them back up to first in the winner takes all and in the words of Ricky Bobby’s Dad from Taladega Nights, “if you’re not first, you’re last!”
SL16 which sounds like some sort of covert Treadstone project, but is in fact the B team of Standard Liege were the next visitors to the Kiel.
At this level the games are not readily available so I’ll cut to the details and share the goals when they hit you tube.
Team selection once more very consistent.
Keeper - Lathouwers (same as last month)
Central defenders - Konstantopoulous, Matthys, Van Den Bergh (same as last month)
Wingbacks - Seydoux, Weymans (the latter filling in for injured Nzita as he has recently)
Midfield - Rigo, Sanusi (same)
Forwards - Verlinden, Baeten, Thorisson (same)
Subs - Mathijas(gk), Querynen(rb), Meisl(cb), Alhassan(dm,cb), Koshi(cm), Sebaoui(am/f), Vaca(am/f)
It took a solitary goal from Verlinden, notching his 5th of the season in 19 matches but with 5 assists, he’s often provider. All this means all the forwards are weighing in, Baeten top scoring with 10 in 19 plus 3 assists and late window arrival Thorisson with 6 goals and an assist in his 15 games, league and cup all told.
So 1-0 it stayed with both sides hitting the post in the final 10, Van Den Bergh for Beerschot.
Limited team changes Weymans went off and was replaced by Alhassan with one of the left sided defenders moving across and Alhassan going centrally. Then the rest were largely winding down the clock and giving short run outs, Vaca for Thorisson on 84, Meisl for Seydoux on 90+2 as well as Sebouai for Verlinden for the final two as SL16 were reduced to 10 in the 90th minute.
All this means Beerschot leapfrog SK Beveren by one point, back into top spot with an impressive 35 points from 17. Just one more hurdle of 8th placed Deinze away before they can reflect on a positive start to the season which will resume the 21st of January. Four more matches after that and the league splits in two with the top six then playing each other twice and then bottom six the same to decide who goes up.
Châteauroux 2-2 Stade Briochon:
Dender 2-3 Beerschot
Villefranche 1-1 Châteauroux
Off to Beerschot to round off the weekend and the cocky little bastards have only gone and won again! That’s now a remarkable 6 wins in succession and takes them back up to first in the winner takes all and in the words of Ricky Bobby’s Dad from Taladega Nights, “if you’re not first, you’re last!”
SL16 which sounds like some sort of covert Treadstone project, but is in fact the B team of Standard Liege were the next visitors to the Kiel.
At this level the games are not readily available so I’ll cut to the details and share the goals when they hit you tube.
Team selection once more very consistent.
Keeper - Lathouwers (same as last month)
Central defenders - Konstantopoulous, Matthys, Van Den Bergh (same as last month)
Wingbacks - Seydoux, Weymans (the latter filling in for injured Nzita as he has recently)
Midfield - Rigo, Sanusi (same)
Forwards - Verlinden, Baeten, Thorisson (same)
Subs - Mathijas(gk), Querynen(rb), Meisl(cb), Alhassan(dm,cb), Koshi(cm), Sebaoui(am/f), Vaca(am/f)
It took a solitary goal from Verlinden, notching his 5th of the season in 19 matches but with 5 assists, he’s often provider. All this means all the forwards are weighing in, Baeten top scoring with 10 in 19 plus 3 assists and late window arrival Thorisson with 6 goals and an assist in his 15 games, league and cup all told.
So 1-0 it stayed with both sides hitting the post in the final 10, Van Den Bergh for Beerschot.
Limited team changes Weymans went off and was replaced by Alhassan with one of the left sided defenders moving across and Alhassan going centrally. Then the rest were largely winding down the clock and giving short run outs, Vaca for Thorisson on 84, Meisl for Seydoux on 90+2 as well as Sebouai for Verlinden for the final two as SL16 were reduced to 10 in the 90th minute.
All this means Beerschot leapfrog SK Beveren by one point, back into top spot with an impressive 35 points from 17. Just one more hurdle of 8th placed Deinze away before they can reflect on a positive start to the season which will resume the 21st of January. Four more matches after that and the league splits in two with the top six then playing each other twice and then bottom six the same to decide who goes up.
PurpleRain
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Transfer embargo imposed for the January window due to unpaid debts.
Millhousesblade1889
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Not sure if you’re referring to ‘us’ or Beerschot but I’ve also heard the same about United a couple of months ago & mentioned it on here but had it shot down.
If an owner is failing to pay debts on one club I presume that’s across the board of them all
Champagneblade
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Isn't that going to be reversed once the debts get settled?
Apparently it was for Konstantopoulos and Thórisson. I can't imagine they paid a great deal for either of them.
Still, I'd expect Vanhamel to finally remove himself from the wage bill in January so that should free up some cash. Beerschot recently signed a third keeper, making Vanhamel 4th pick - Ilias Moutha-Sebtaoui, 1.88m, a 23 year old formerly on Man U's books who played flr Belgium U19s. If they go up, I still feel this is a position that would need strengthening.
Stipe Radic has also found another club after being in dispute last summer - Fortuna Sittard. Not quite the top move he was probably hoping for. It seems the league deems him free and his representatives believe he sent a registered letter to trigger his departure on the 20th of May for a June deadline. Apparently anyone relegated in Belgium, can either accept the likely 20% wage drop or trigger a free transfer. Plenty did this for an immediate return to top flight football e.g. Holzhauser, Dom, but it hasn't worked out for all. I see Bourdin is still without a team. So the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
There were also some rather unsavory accusations by the LS16 coach regarding Monkey chants during the match. These have been vehemently denied by the club and there was no mention in the referees report.
Meanwhile the frost has claimed the match away at Deinze so no game now until 2023.
Chateauroux play tonight in their final game of 2023 with an injury ravaged team against Sedan.
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Champagneblade
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Goal from the Beerschot game now available as per below:
I'm working on the basis that if one of us (me) can be arsed to keep track of United World it will save the rest a bit of effort whenever you get bored or fancy checking in out of morbid curiosity!
Even without playing Beerschot still sit well placed. Not only do they remain top, but with SK Beveren having drawn 0-0 on a rock hard icy surface against bottom club Virton, it means they sit joint top on 35 points with them but now crucially have a game in hand, sitting one ahead of RWDM also with a game to spare, the latter having beaten Anderlecht U23s narrowly 2-1 on Sunday. With SK Beveren being the first game back on 22nd Jan it gives the chance to either open a 6 point gap or should they fall short catch right back up with the game in hand. That's them done until end Jan so the only thing to keep an eye on will be any transfer news of which I'd imagine will be very little.
So, over to Chateauroux and here we find a team really 'dans la merde'.
The firing of the last coach was probably justified but appointing his assistant and to him as assistant Dominique Bijotat, who manages Chateauroux across two (half) seasons December 08/09 to 09/10 where they finished 15th and 16th in Ligue 2. Oh what they would give now for that!
There seems to be a lot of questions about the local leaders there and more whether United World will keep faith with them. Rather than blaming United World there more seems to be a concern as to what the plan is and the thought that the local team has let them down somewhat. In fact one of the United World Recruitment Seniors was over this past week which makes you think they are concerned.
The current run since beating another underperforming favorite, Nancy, 3-1, has been 4 defeats and 3 draws. 2 of those 3 points from 21 has come under the 'new' management however this has been a draw at home vs bottom, a draw to a team on around the same points away and this latest defeat in Friday against a team also more or less level, once more at home.
To the game. The match took place in freezing conditions and Chateauroux were perhaps too honest getting the game on with the line up they put out.
Delecroix in goal, however Fouda continued at right back after doing ok last week but ostensibly he's found himself behind Youssouf. The latter was filling in for the injured Mbengue and both of these were out. So in stepped Fofana, right back cum right centre back having to play at left back. In the centre Sangante was still out and Ouaneh, their most reliable defender was suspended, so 18 year old Ahoussou retained his spot and Basque dropped back from midfield.
Now playing 4-2-3-1, though not much different from 4-3-3 of previous, Basque's spot was taken by Mexique alongside Viltard. Further forward, the two unproductive wingers Bianchini and Ntolla lined up with N'Goma just behind Ndour.
This meant Grange and Sunu were out and Nolan Roux also missing as well as Sangante, Ouaneh, Youssouf, Mbengue, all of which would be potential starters.
On the bench was 18 year old Kenan Toibibu a defender or defensive midfielder from Comoros, Plumain the keeper, Daham brought in from the cold, a midfielder who to me has few outstanding attributes, Bozkurt a striker plucked from down the leagues and Germouche, another disappointing loanee, from Montpellier.
Funnily enough, they made the perfect start!
A right footed inswinger eluded the defence and fell kindly for Basque who stroked home high into the net on around 9 minutes.
Far from getting into their stride, fragility showed and a desperate lunge by Basque, skipper for the night, couldn't keep the ball from breaking to the Sedan forward in the area who coolly slotted past Delecroix who was came out but hesitated to continue his advance and saw the ball nestle in the corner.
Not long after, Ntolla spurned an excellent chance to retake the lead. Put through on goal he rounded the keeper and then rather than taking a touch hit the side netting. Unfortunately he has no composure and with 1 goal in 16 and no assists, the 23 year old is a luxury they can I'll afford.
As is often the case, you get punished in these instances. So just before half time, a cross from the left was far too easily allowed to come in with 2 players failing to block the cross then unopposed at the back stick Sedan took the lead.
This didn't get better. A sweeping move, aided by awful marking and equally awful tracking of runners saw a cross from the right this time nicely placed home. 3-1 and now what?
By the 84th minute N'Goma had left at half time to be replaced by Daham, Ndour had given way to Bozkurt on 67 and Germouche had finally put Ntolla out of his misery on 80. At this point a small glimmer of hope came alive. A decent bit of hold up play by Germouche released Bianchini on the right and his centre across the corridor of uncertainty between defender and keeper allowed Viltord to ghost in and give some life to the encounter.
By all account Chateauroux could have benefited from a potential handball in a scramble late on but it wasn't to be.
They hit the mid-season break where they didn't want to be, 14th out of 18, just the one point from safety but 11 off second and 12 off first meaning survival now appears to be the aim - 6 go down with France opting for three tiers of 18 teams next year.
They need a new strike force this December/Jan. Will Papa Nöel bring it to them? Next back in league action against Red Star FC on the 13th after entertaining PSG on the 6th. We should know by then.
So United World takes a break until well into 2023. Will update if anything significant but otherwise should be quiet on the United World front for a few weeks.
I'm working on the basis that if one of us (me) can be arsed to keep track of United World it will save the rest a bit of effort whenever you get bored or fancy checking in out of morbid curiosity!
Even without playing Beerschot still sit well placed. Not only do they remain top, but with SK Beveren having drawn 0-0 on a rock hard icy surface against bottom club Virton, it means they sit joint top on 35 points with them but now crucially have a game in hand, sitting one ahead of RWDM also with a game to spare, the latter having beaten Anderlecht U23s narrowly 2-1 on Sunday. With SK Beveren being the first game back on 22nd Jan it gives the chance to either open a 6 point gap or should they fall short catch right back up with the game in hand. That's them done until end Jan so the only thing to keep an eye on will be any transfer news of which I'd imagine will be very little.
So, over to Chateauroux and here we find a team really 'dans la merde'.
The firing of the last coach was probably justified but appointing his assistant and to him as assistant Dominique Bijotat, who manages Chateauroux across two (half) seasons December 08/09 to 09/10 where they finished 15th and 16th in Ligue 2. Oh what they would give now for that!
There seems to be a lot of questions about the local leaders there and more whether United World will keep faith with them. Rather than blaming United World there more seems to be a concern as to what the plan is and the thought that the local team has let them down somewhat. In fact one of the United World Recruitment Seniors was over this past week which makes you think they are concerned.
The current run since beating another underperforming favorite, Nancy, 3-1, has been 4 defeats and 3 draws. 2 of those 3 points from 21 has come under the 'new' management however this has been a draw at home vs bottom, a draw to a team on around the same points away and this latest defeat in Friday against a team also more or less level, once more at home.
To the game. The match took place in freezing conditions and Chateauroux were perhaps too honest getting the game on with the line up they put out.
Delecroix in goal, however Fouda continued at right back after doing ok last week but ostensibly he's found himself behind Youssouf. The latter was filling in for the injured Mbengue and both of these were out. So in stepped Fofana, right back cum right centre back having to play at left back. In the centre Sangante was still out and Ouaneh, their most reliable defender was suspended, so 18 year old Ahoussou retained his spot and Basque dropped back from midfield.
Now playing 4-2-3-1, though not much different from 4-3-3 of previous, Basque's spot was taken by Mexique alongside Viltard. Further forward, the two unproductive wingers Bianchini and Ntolla lined up with N'Goma just behind Ndour.
This meant Grange and Sunu were out and Nolan Roux also missing as well as Sangante, Ouaneh, Youssouf, Mbengue, all of which would be potential starters.
On the bench was 18 year old Kenan Toibibu a defender or defensive midfielder from Comoros, Plumain the keeper, Daham brought in from the cold, a midfielder who to me has few outstanding attributes, Bozkurt a striker plucked from down the leagues and Germouche, another disappointing loanee, from Montpellier.
Funnily enough, they made the perfect start!
A right footed inswinger eluded the defence and fell kindly for Basque who stroked home high into the net on around 9 minutes.
Far from getting into their stride, fragility showed and a desperate lunge by Basque, skipper for the night, couldn't keep the ball from breaking to the Sedan forward in the area who coolly slotted past Delecroix who was came out but hesitated to continue his advance and saw the ball nestle in the corner.
Not long after, Ntolla spurned an excellent chance to retake the lead. Put through on goal he rounded the keeper and then rather than taking a touch hit the side netting. Unfortunately he has no composure and with 1 goal in 16 and no assists, the 23 year old is a luxury they can I'll afford.
As is often the case, you get punished in these instances. So just before half time, a cross from the left was far too easily allowed to come in with 2 players failing to block the cross then unopposed at the back stick Sedan took the lead.
This didn't get better. A sweeping move, aided by awful marking and equally awful tracking of runners saw a cross from the right this time nicely placed home. 3-1 and now what?
By the 84th minute N'Goma had left at half time to be replaced by Daham, Ndour had given way to Bozkurt on 67 and Germouche had finally put Ntolla out of his misery on 80. At this point a small glimmer of hope came alive. A decent bit of hold up play by Germouche released Bianchini on the right and his centre across the corridor of uncertainty between defender and keeper allowed Viltord to ghost in and give some life to the encounter.
By all account Chateauroux could have benefited from a potential handball in a scramble late on but it wasn't to be.
They hit the mid-season break where they didn't want to be, 14th out of 18, just the one point from safety but 11 off second and 12 off first meaning survival now appears to be the aim - 6 go down with France opting for three tiers of 18 teams next year.
They need a new strike force this December/Jan. Will Papa Nöel bring it to them? Next back in league action against Red Star FC on the 13th after entertaining PSG on the 6th. We should know by then.
So United World takes a break until well into 2023. Will update if anything significant but otherwise should be quiet on the United World front for a few weeks.
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Champagneblade
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The winter breaks have now concluded for the continent based United World Clubs.
First to kick off was Chateauroux in the Cup in a well publicised game vs PSG. There was a lot of media attention and whilst it was good for the town, the team didn't disgrace itself, equalising an early goal through a deflected Ntolla effort. They held out until the 78th minute, to much plaudits and then further conceded in injury time. This was very much no lose however. PSG opted to omit their three main stars for a variety of reasons but still had Navas, Marquinhos and Ekitiké in the starting line up and Ramos on as sub.
Team - Delecroix; Fouda, Ouaneh, Ahoussou, Youssouf (Sanganté 71); Mexique, Basque (Grange 84), Viltard; Binachini, Roux (Bozkurt 84), Ntolla (Sunu 71).
The hope was then that la Berri could build on this as they faced Red Star the following Friday in an empty stadium due to crows trouble I believe. That hope was short lived after a poor start saw them fall behind early on. A second and third followed later in the game leading to a miserable 3-0 and fear growing amongst their fans.
I'll post the 'lowlights' below but changing manager to the incumbent assistant has had no real impact with 2 points from 12 so far.
Line up in this one was:
Delecroix; Fouda (Fofana 46), Ouaneh, Ahoussou, Youssouf; Mexique, Basque (N'Goma 69), Viltard (Sanganté 82); Binachini, Roux (Ndour 82), Ntolla
As for the goals, I thought the keeper's two attempts to keep the ball out could have been better at pushing the ball out for a corner though he isn't the weak link in the team and the way they backed off for the first invited trouble. A mix up allowed a corner on 77 minutes which, allayed to poor marking did for the second and further poor defending by Fofana, not a regular these days, on 79 added to his woes on the second goal.
For long periods there has been focus on what United World would think about the situation and whether they would be less than impressed with the way the €7.5m budget had been allocated by the local management. Just recently I'm seeing more concern about the motives of United World. I.e. do they have much concern for la Berri themselves or just like the location for a training centre? The flip side is that there is talk the town may turn the training centre into a hotel for the Olympics if they go down so there must have been some joint funding on this.
If they are relegated they would lose pro status and be expected to follow a far smaller budget so out goes the facilities etc. French football moves from Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and National to 3 18 team divisions next season so 6 go down from National and at present la Berri are 5th bottom. A lot of uncertainty.
It feels like Chateauroux are just too nice. Nice club, players do things in the community like baking in the local cafe to give them publicity, giving their shirts from the PSG game to the office staff. All very nice. That's also why they seem to be sleepwalking to relegation. It does feel there is an absence of genuine urgency or a desire to make things happen by action rather than just hoping things right themselves. Staying up has now taken over going up in the past four. For a club with such a budget, this must be disappointing for the Prince. €7.5m is seen as a Ligue 2 type budget, yet locally amongst the staff they see Robinet and Decouré leaving on Deadline day as being a major part in the woes with main recruiter Cordonnier heading to Sochaux, 3rd in Ligue 2, at the end of the month, reluctant to accept criticism for the squad building job, pointing out how United World did not provide him funds to get adequate replacements. The other angle would be to say that both players wanted to leave so to not prioritise a replacement earlier was the fault of those locally.
Apart from the €5m which was injected to keep Beerschot going it's certainly interesting to see Chateauroux's first move was to send back Germouche (who was a failure) back to Montpellier, Beerschot's was to sell Vaca back to South America for €150k and ourselves we have sent back Khadra. It's certainly been money in and players out first yet no arrivals all round. So you do wonder what the Prince is thinking now. Beerschot has been linked with American and Indonesian investors though the Board locally has maintained they are not looking to sell and Chateauroux as well as Sochaux have been linked with Todd Boehly as he considers setting up a network of clubs. What future therefore United World? Next Chateauroux play Avranches and a victory needs to be coming sooner rather than later.
Beerschot I find a different animal. Often abrasive in their press releases with them often recoiling under accusations from the authorities and other managers about what the support may or may not have done.
Having been Champions and Cup winners before there is a different expectation and I do wonder if the Prince really knew what he was getting himself into. On one hand, here is a club that was bankrupt in 2013. They were in the lower reaches of Belgium football and when the Prince came along they saw promotion to the top flight and two seasons before relegation. Far from being satisfied there is a desire to see an owner spend cash to cement them in the top flight and to that I can't help but feel that fan patience won't align with the Prince's frugal management.
For all the advantages of bringing in players from certain countries with greater ease, Belgium football is historically riddled with financial issues, with teams regularly folding, reforming and merging.
The entente cordial between fans and owners had been there due to an excellent run of late. Unfortunately when they returned Beerschot were careless in a game they statistically dominated and went down 3-2 after a fightback from 2 down only to lose in injury time. Baeten continues to impress in front of goal, notching both goals. Meanwhile the manager is also calling for recruits with the squad thin on the ground and a teenage forward LaMorte the only attacker on the bench, with Vaca sold and Sebaoui on international duty.
Line up was as follows:
Lathouwers; Konstantopoulos, Matthys, Van den Bergh; Seydoux (Koshi 55), Rigo, Sanusi, Nzita (Meisl 73); Verlinden (Alhassan 56), Baeten, Thórisson
Next game up is SK Beveren in a 1st vs 2nd clash so plenty to play for.
2 weeks left in the window. It will be interesting whether United World plays a waiting game or decided to take these two balanced situations by the scruff of the neck.
First to kick off was Chateauroux in the Cup in a well publicised game vs PSG. There was a lot of media attention and whilst it was good for the town, the team didn't disgrace itself, equalising an early goal through a deflected Ntolla effort. They held out until the 78th minute, to much plaudits and then further conceded in injury time. This was very much no lose however. PSG opted to omit their three main stars for a variety of reasons but still had Navas, Marquinhos and Ekitiké in the starting line up and Ramos on as sub.
Team - Delecroix; Fouda, Ouaneh, Ahoussou, Youssouf (Sanganté 71); Mexique, Basque (Grange 84), Viltard; Binachini, Roux (Bozkurt 84), Ntolla (Sunu 71).
The hope was then that la Berri could build on this as they faced Red Star the following Friday in an empty stadium due to crows trouble I believe. That hope was short lived after a poor start saw them fall behind early on. A second and third followed later in the game leading to a miserable 3-0 and fear growing amongst their fans.
I'll post the 'lowlights' below but changing manager to the incumbent assistant has had no real impact with 2 points from 12 so far.
Line up in this one was:
Delecroix; Fouda (Fofana 46), Ouaneh, Ahoussou, Youssouf; Mexique, Basque (N'Goma 69), Viltard (Sanganté 82); Binachini, Roux (Ndour 82), Ntolla
As for the goals, I thought the keeper's two attempts to keep the ball out could have been better at pushing the ball out for a corner though he isn't the weak link in the team and the way they backed off for the first invited trouble. A mix up allowed a corner on 77 minutes which, allayed to poor marking did for the second and further poor defending by Fofana, not a regular these days, on 79 added to his woes on the second goal.
For long periods there has been focus on what United World would think about the situation and whether they would be less than impressed with the way the €7.5m budget had been allocated by the local management. Just recently I'm seeing more concern about the motives of United World. I.e. do they have much concern for la Berri themselves or just like the location for a training centre? The flip side is that there is talk the town may turn the training centre into a hotel for the Olympics if they go down so there must have been some joint funding on this.
If they are relegated they would lose pro status and be expected to follow a far smaller budget so out goes the facilities etc. French football moves from Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and National to 3 18 team divisions next season so 6 go down from National and at present la Berri are 5th bottom. A lot of uncertainty.
It feels like Chateauroux are just too nice. Nice club, players do things in the community like baking in the local cafe to give them publicity, giving their shirts from the PSG game to the office staff. All very nice. That's also why they seem to be sleepwalking to relegation. It does feel there is an absence of genuine urgency or a desire to make things happen by action rather than just hoping things right themselves. Staying up has now taken over going up in the past four. For a club with such a budget, this must be disappointing for the Prince. €7.5m is seen as a Ligue 2 type budget, yet locally amongst the staff they see Robinet and Decouré leaving on Deadline day as being a major part in the woes with main recruiter Cordonnier heading to Sochaux, 3rd in Ligue 2, at the end of the month, reluctant to accept criticism for the squad building job, pointing out how United World did not provide him funds to get adequate replacements. The other angle would be to say that both players wanted to leave so to not prioritise a replacement earlier was the fault of those locally.
Apart from the €5m which was injected to keep Beerschot going it's certainly interesting to see Chateauroux's first move was to send back Germouche (who was a failure) back to Montpellier, Beerschot's was to sell Vaca back to South America for €150k and ourselves we have sent back Khadra. It's certainly been money in and players out first yet no arrivals all round. So you do wonder what the Prince is thinking now. Beerschot has been linked with American and Indonesian investors though the Board locally has maintained they are not looking to sell and Chateauroux as well as Sochaux have been linked with Todd Boehly as he considers setting up a network of clubs. What future therefore United World? Next Chateauroux play Avranches and a victory needs to be coming sooner rather than later.
Beerschot I find a different animal. Often abrasive in their press releases with them often recoiling under accusations from the authorities and other managers about what the support may or may not have done.
Having been Champions and Cup winners before there is a different expectation and I do wonder if the Prince really knew what he was getting himself into. On one hand, here is a club that was bankrupt in 2013. They were in the lower reaches of Belgium football and when the Prince came along they saw promotion to the top flight and two seasons before relegation. Far from being satisfied there is a desire to see an owner spend cash to cement them in the top flight and to that I can't help but feel that fan patience won't align with the Prince's frugal management.
For all the advantages of bringing in players from certain countries with greater ease, Belgium football is historically riddled with financial issues, with teams regularly folding, reforming and merging.
The entente cordial between fans and owners had been there due to an excellent run of late. Unfortunately when they returned Beerschot were careless in a game they statistically dominated and went down 3-2 after a fightback from 2 down only to lose in injury time. Baeten continues to impress in front of goal, notching both goals. Meanwhile the manager is also calling for recruits with the squad thin on the ground and a teenage forward LaMorte the only attacker on the bench, with Vaca sold and Sebaoui on international duty.
Line up was as follows:
Lathouwers; Konstantopoulos, Matthys, Van den Bergh; Seydoux (Koshi 55), Rigo, Sanusi, Nzita (Meisl 73); Verlinden (Alhassan 56), Baeten, Thórisson
Next game up is SK Beveren in a 1st vs 2nd clash so plenty to play for.
2 weeks left in the window. It will be interesting whether United World plays a waiting game or decided to take these two balanced situations by the scruff of the neck.
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Champagneblade
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It feels like United World is going through a difficult period in it's existence.
The Chateauroux game was caller off due to snow. I couldn't help but think that if they'd won 4 on the spin rather than taken 2 points from 12 and gotten knocked out the cup, that there might have been more effort in getting the game on.
They are so desperate for a striker and to not get relegated you can almost smell the fear. There is a distinct lack of resolve in the team with an apparent absence of leaders. There is also an all too willing desire locally to shrug and suggest those leading locally are not to blame. I don't buy this. They've had €15m of budget these past 2 years. Regardless of selling two wantaway players on the final day, they should have assembled a more robust squad with such funding at that level. The recruitment head. Cornonnier is leaving and was too happy to say he wasn't given the funds to replace Robinet and Decouré. Sadly nobody retorted pointing to the inflated wages that had been spent on the underperforming squad - that's where the money went. Still, no help and they will be facing a game changing relegation. They also let another forward leave on a free and he's doing quite well.
Onto Beerschot. They are minimally funded despite the recent injection to remove their own embargo. Yesterday they lost top scorer Baeten due to injury. On the bench they had a keeper, a centre back, a right and left back and three central midfielders. They also need a striker. Literally anyone who can out a shift in up front would do, to give the others a rest. I wonder if Châteauroux could send them Nolan Roux to give a body and use his wages to improve their own chances.
They must be cursing the winter break anyway. They were absolutely flying at the point they put their feet up. Having then lost 3-2 last week, somewhat unfortunately after coming back from 2 down, with Baeten scoring twice, they contrived to lose to SK Beveren 2-0 having afforded the opposition just one shot on target and dominated.
Despite Baeten being out Sebaoui stepped in and Thorisson moved centrally in what was a strong XI but a defensive bench of (G) Mathias, (RWB) Quirynen, (CB) Meisl, (LWB) Weymans, (CB/DM) Alhassan, (CM) Koshi, (CM) Okyere showed their lack of game changing options.
They lined up in familiar fashion: (G) Lathouwers, (RCB) Konstantopoulos, (CB) Matthys, (LCB) Van den Bergh; (RWB) Seydoux, (CM) Rigo, (CM) Sanusi, (LWB) Nzita; (RF) Verlinden, (CF) Thorisson, (LF) Sebaoui
Unfortunately they got off to a poor start and a quick 1-2 allowed Berry to nip in between 3 flat footed defenders and finish smartly beyond the keeper.
That was SK Beveren’s only shot on target out of 6 overall efforts. In contrast Beerschot had 14 efforts on target but without their talisman, just one was on target and they left empty handed.
61% possession (remember this was 1st vs 2nd at the start of the weekend), 469 passes to 304, an accuracy of 75% vs 67% and a corner count of 14 to 2 showed how dominant they were.
But goals win games. So not only were they chasing, in the 5th minute of an additional 10 they managed to lose a further goal through an own goal by sub Alhassan.
Very unfortunate and probably 7 or 8 times out of 10 those stats get you a win. But it just isn’t running for them right now. The manager made changes but when you only have defenders and midfielders on the bench then how do you take the game further to the opposition?
Weymans replaced Sebaoui on 70, Quirynen like for like with Seydoux, Alhassan for Thorisson on 84 and Okyere debuting for Rigo on 90.
It would only take a little move here or there to put them in a strong position. They dominated and were unlucky. In three games time the league splits and the top six will play a couple of times against each other so a repeat of this dominance with the right forwards and they have a great platform.
In the meantime they drop to 3rd but it’s very tight. Three points off yesterdays opponents when on the balance of play it should be Beerschot topping the league and 2 behind RWDM. Beerschot play Jong Genk at home, who sit bottom, away to 5th placed Lierse and home to RWDM in a key game to finish off before the split. RWDM has Lierse next away and then Standard Liege U23s at home. SK Beveren next vs the same Standard Liege team away, Jong Genk also away and 9th placed Dender at home.
It will be very close. But like Châteauroux, they also need that little bit of help to avoid injury unravelling their season.
The Chateauroux game was caller off due to snow. I couldn't help but think that if they'd won 4 on the spin rather than taken 2 points from 12 and gotten knocked out the cup, that there might have been more effort in getting the game on.
They are so desperate for a striker and to not get relegated you can almost smell the fear. There is a distinct lack of resolve in the team with an apparent absence of leaders. There is also an all too willing desire locally to shrug and suggest those leading locally are not to blame. I don't buy this. They've had €15m of budget these past 2 years. Regardless of selling two wantaway players on the final day, they should have assembled a more robust squad with such funding at that level. The recruitment head. Cornonnier is leaving and was too happy to say he wasn't given the funds to replace Robinet and Decouré. Sadly nobody retorted pointing to the inflated wages that had been spent on the underperforming squad - that's where the money went. Still, no help and they will be facing a game changing relegation. They also let another forward leave on a free and he's doing quite well.
Onto Beerschot. They are minimally funded despite the recent injection to remove their own embargo. Yesterday they lost top scorer Baeten due to injury. On the bench they had a keeper, a centre back, a right and left back and three central midfielders. They also need a striker. Literally anyone who can out a shift in up front would do, to give the others a rest. I wonder if Châteauroux could send them Nolan Roux to give a body and use his wages to improve their own chances.
They must be cursing the winter break anyway. They were absolutely flying at the point they put their feet up. Having then lost 3-2 last week, somewhat unfortunately after coming back from 2 down, with Baeten scoring twice, they contrived to lose to SK Beveren 2-0 having afforded the opposition just one shot on target and dominated.
Despite Baeten being out Sebaoui stepped in and Thorisson moved centrally in what was a strong XI but a defensive bench of (G) Mathias, (RWB) Quirynen, (CB) Meisl, (LWB) Weymans, (CB/DM) Alhassan, (CM) Koshi, (CM) Okyere showed their lack of game changing options.
They lined up in familiar fashion: (G) Lathouwers, (RCB) Konstantopoulos, (CB) Matthys, (LCB) Van den Bergh; (RWB) Seydoux, (CM) Rigo, (CM) Sanusi, (LWB) Nzita; (RF) Verlinden, (CF) Thorisson, (LF) Sebaoui
Unfortunately they got off to a poor start and a quick 1-2 allowed Berry to nip in between 3 flat footed defenders and finish smartly beyond the keeper.
That was SK Beveren’s only shot on target out of 6 overall efforts. In contrast Beerschot had 14 efforts on target but without their talisman, just one was on target and they left empty handed.
61% possession (remember this was 1st vs 2nd at the start of the weekend), 469 passes to 304, an accuracy of 75% vs 67% and a corner count of 14 to 2 showed how dominant they were.
But goals win games. So not only were they chasing, in the 5th minute of an additional 10 they managed to lose a further goal through an own goal by sub Alhassan.
Very unfortunate and probably 7 or 8 times out of 10 those stats get you a win. But it just isn’t running for them right now. The manager made changes but when you only have defenders and midfielders on the bench then how do you take the game further to the opposition?
Weymans replaced Sebaoui on 70, Quirynen like for like with Seydoux, Alhassan for Thorisson on 84 and Okyere debuting for Rigo on 90.
It would only take a little move here or there to put them in a strong position. They dominated and were unlucky. In three games time the league splits and the top six will play a couple of times against each other so a repeat of this dominance with the right forwards and they have a great platform.
In the meantime they drop to 3rd but it’s very tight. Three points off yesterdays opponents when on the balance of play it should be Beerschot topping the league and 2 behind RWDM. Beerschot play Jong Genk at home, who sit bottom, away to 5th placed Lierse and home to RWDM in a key game to finish off before the split. RWDM has Lierse next away and then Standard Liege U23s at home. SK Beveren next vs the same Standard Liege team away, Jong Genk also away and 9th placed Dender at home.
It will be very close. But like Châteauroux, they also need that little bit of help to avoid injury unravelling their season.
PurpleRain
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Great summary CB, you know more about us than prince tinpot does. The small squad is ruining our promotion push. Rigo got injured yesterday and it looked nasty, going down without any contact. Those are the worst. They sold Vaca and released Petkevicius. That means the squad is even thinner and we have zero attacking minded players on the bench. It’s all downhill from here. No money made available to add players. Leaving frustrated fans. Wish UW would sell up the whole group asap.
Champagneblade
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Gomis is linking up with Beerschot.
He seems to be having a try out there. Not clear if perm or loan.
With midfielder Dante Rigo out for 4-6 weeks with an ankle injury it may mean they push Van den Bergh into midfield and he could go in and add another defensive option.
Fair play to him. Of the clubs, Châteauroux would have been easier given they speak French and he’s French. Thought if United World was coherent that him and Belehouan would have been options for them.
Also seems some chatter over here in Asia that Beerschot might be an option for a guy called Marselino Ferdinan, an 18 year old attacking midfielder who plays for the Indonesian National team. They are ranked 151st so no idea if he’s any good. I tend to avoid most of the football here as the standard is so poor. He would be a similar replacement for Ramiro Vaca who went back to Bolivia.
He seems to be having a try out there. Not clear if perm or loan.
With midfielder Dante Rigo out for 4-6 weeks with an ankle injury it may mean they push Van den Bergh into midfield and he could go in and add another defensive option.
Fair play to him. Of the clubs, Châteauroux would have been easier given they speak French and he’s French. Thought if United World was coherent that him and Belehouan would have been options for them.
Also seems some chatter over here in Asia that Beerschot might be an option for a guy called Marselino Ferdinan, an 18 year old attacking midfielder who plays for the Indonesian National team. They are ranked 151st so no idea if he’s any good. I tend to avoid most of the football here as the standard is so poor. He would be a similar replacement for Ramiro Vaca who went back to Bolivia.
BushBlade
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I think most Flemish Belgians are reasonably fluent in French.
Saw an interview with him and he was a full-weight Manc. That's not to say he isn't fluent in French, but I suspect he would be more at home at Stockport.
PurpleRain
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Quesque tu dis?
BushBlade
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I’ve spent a bit of time in Belgium/Nederlands. I don’t think the language barrier will be an issue for Gomis.
Mon français est pauvre cependant. C’est merde.
Houston_Blade
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I’d just like to say “fuck United world” and the fat lot of good it’s done for the Blades.
PurpleRain
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Hasn’t done any good for us either. Turned out to be a big scam. 5 clubs and managed below expectation. Don’t think Chateauroux will be happy either. Time for the owners to sell up. This is going nowhere.
botoble
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Co-Employed Wilder with McCabe
Gave us our highest premier league finish
Stopped selling players under value
Leaving us in a much much better position than took us on…
United World has made watching the blades exciting after years of League One garbage.
Or am I missing something
Houston_Blade
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That’s Abdullah’s achievements as Blades chairman, can’t disagree with any of that. The purchase of other teams and creation of United World coincided with things going to shit in the PL and apart from taking Coulibaly on loan for a couple of seasons and sharing a few costs across the group I’m not seeing the benefits.
My opinion is that if you can’t run the main business properly then don’t buy others and spread yourself even thinner.
Ainsley Harriott
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That's not united world though.
Your first point was apparently a joint decision. So 50/50.
Wilder did that with HRH money.
McCabe was the one who undersold players.
HRH did that.
Not much of it, if any, was caused by united World other than name. If we'd had a player on loan who had contributed somehow then fair enough. We shouldn't have been under that umbrella in my opinion. And as said above, if he hasn't got the kind of money needed to run us, then he shouldn't be spreading his money over multiple.
Champagneblade
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For me, it's one of those things that works on paper but in reality there are a lot of logistical things that make it difficult to see huge benefits, though not sure it is detrimental unless the Prince cannot afford to support the clubs, which would be the issue if he had 1,2,5 or 10 of them.
Firstly, all clubs have to be on the same page and buy into it and likewise the managers of the teams also need to. It seems such a peripheral thing to the team managers.
For it to work you need to almost be looking at pooled resources and working to support each other. It doesn't feel anything like that on the playing side.
Hecky should be looking at the U23s or other development or out of favour players and saying "Right, who can we make available to Chateauroux and Beerschot this year".
The management of Beerschot and Chateauroux should be looking at the pool and saying "Who do we need and what can we satisfy from within the group?"
Conversely the thought of who is ready to move on to better things and can we keep them in the group?
If this was happening then instead of borrowing Germouche from Montpellier who was a failure, Chateauroux would have borrowed Ayari, instead of Ahoussou from Nice, it should have been Gomis. For Beershot, instead of borrowing Petkevicius from Charleroi, they should have borrowed Osula. Instead of loaning out Soumaré to Rouen they should have loaned him to Chateauroux, who wouldn't have then needed to borrow Bianchini from Amiens.
That all completely ignores the players' wishes of course, but there were needs and wants that could have been satisfied internally.
I get the sharing of scouting info, though all three will be looking at different calibre players, but pooling to reduce fixed costs can only be a good thing.
I'm just not convinced everyone is 'all in' apart from a handful of folks sat in Geneva.
But if the money isn't there to support all the clubs, then better to have more modest aims.
Maybe selling Sheffield United for a healthy sum means he can build Beerschot into a Belgium powerhouse. Who knows? But for now the group appears to be going through a difficult phase to say the least.
Firstly, all clubs have to be on the same page and buy into it and likewise the managers of the teams also need to. It seems such a peripheral thing to the team managers.
For it to work you need to almost be looking at pooled resources and working to support each other. It doesn't feel anything like that on the playing side.
Hecky should be looking at the U23s or other development or out of favour players and saying "Right, who can we make available to Chateauroux and Beerschot this year".
The management of Beerschot and Chateauroux should be looking at the pool and saying "Who do we need and what can we satisfy from within the group?"
Conversely the thought of who is ready to move on to better things and can we keep them in the group?
If this was happening then instead of borrowing Germouche from Montpellier who was a failure, Chateauroux would have borrowed Ayari, instead of Ahoussou from Nice, it should have been Gomis. For Beershot, instead of borrowing Petkevicius from Charleroi, they should have borrowed Osula. Instead of loaning out Soumaré to Rouen they should have loaned him to Chateauroux, who wouldn't have then needed to borrow Bianchini from Amiens.
That all completely ignores the players' wishes of course, but there were needs and wants that could have been satisfied internally.
I get the sharing of scouting info, though all three will be looking at different calibre players, but pooling to reduce fixed costs can only be a good thing.
I'm just not convinced everyone is 'all in' apart from a handful of folks sat in Geneva.
But if the money isn't there to support all the clubs, then better to have more modest aims.
Maybe selling Sheffield United for a healthy sum means he can build Beerschot into a Belgium powerhouse. Who knows? But for now the group appears to be going through a difficult phase to say the least.
botoble
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Correct me if I’m wrong but I believe he already owned 1 or 2 other clubs before the formation of United world in March 2020 no?
I would say “things going to shit” coinciding with Jack O’Connell, Dean Henderson and blades fans no long being able to participate in live matches due to Covid 19 could be more to do with it.
Remember Slav ruined last seasons promotion hopes who was most peoples first choice and who our chairman went out and got.
The United world restructure of staff at SU with the appointment of Heckingbottom on a long term contract was badly received yet seems to have been a master stroke.
Don’t get me wrong would I like an owner to be 100% focused on bank rolling blades, of course I would. However to have the 5 years we have had I can am more than happy with how things have gone and if we don’t sell anyone this window then it has been an excellent JTW for me irrelevant of the transfer embargo.
United World has done a decent job at the Lane for me as they are our owners and I think if we go up this season they deserve all the credit on risking finances by not selling the likes of Berge, Ndiaye, Egan, Fleck or Baldock to service a debt.
Whilst it is wrong and we should pay what we owe, if this gamble pays off and we get promoted then fair play.
I would say “things going to shit” coinciding with Jack O’Connell, Dean Henderson and blades fans no long being able to participate in live matches due to Covid 19 could be more to do with it.
Remember Slav ruined last seasons promotion hopes who was most peoples first choice and who our chairman went out and got.
The United world restructure of staff at SU with the appointment of Heckingbottom on a long term contract was badly received yet seems to have been a master stroke.
Don’t get me wrong would I like an owner to be 100% focused on bank rolling blades, of course I would. However to have the 5 years we have had I can am more than happy with how things have gone and if we don’t sell anyone this window then it has been an excellent JTW for me irrelevant of the transfer embargo.
United World has done a decent job at the Lane for me as they are our owners and I think if we go up this season they deserve all the credit on risking finances by not selling the likes of Berge, Ndiaye, Egan, Fleck or Baldock to service a debt.
Whilst it is wrong and we should pay what we owe, if this gamble pays off and we get promoted then fair play.
botoble
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Champagneblade
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I think the challenge for most, me included, is that it isn’t clear how much is simply just the Prince and how much credit you actually give to United World as a construct.
Before the United World concept arrived, the Prince became co-owner then owner. All up to that point was down to the joint ownership, then sole ownership allayed with Wilder’s on field achievements.
Maybe more is expected of United World and it’s just a light arrangement between clubs to reduce fixed costs overall and improve the scouring network. The benefits might only become visible over time.
On the other hand, it’s easy to say United World doesn’t work when the problem is simply the Prince is lacking cash right now. This has very little to do with the United World construct. Beerschot and United didn’t end up under embargo because millions were being funneled to some United World vanity project. It happened because both clubs were short of cash. Be that not enough fans, paying not high enough prices, not enough tv money, not enough player sales or lastly and probably most significantly, not enough injection from the ownership.
There are certain circumstances where the clubs can pay for themselves but none of them are at a level where that is currently the case.
If United settle at the top level like Brighton, recruit well and end up being offered huge sums for players and keep recycling them, then it is possible for us to be sustainable.
If Beerschot make a better job of their Jupiter league stay than last season (if they can get up) then perhaps they can occasionally push for Europe and that opens up a few more riches.
For Châteauroux, Ligue 1 would be a dream, but competitive at Ligue 2 level and producing players for Ligue 1 or beyond would see them self sustaining on fees I’d imagine.
All of which is all well and good but it’s quite chicken or egg. They all need a bit of a boost to get to that level.
The Prince might be squeezing his arse cheeks right now, but if the first two teams make it up and get increased tv money he might be breathing a sigh of relief.
For now he’s at the point of it making sense to invest a little bit more to tip results the right way or he leave things to chance and hope his luck holds.
He’s fortunate, if you call it that, with Heckingbottom, he’s got a manager doing a good job. In Belgium, I’d say Andreas Weiland is also making logical decisions on the playing side and getting the best out of what he’s got. Less so at Châteauroux at the moment but it takes time and it’s maybe not realistic to expect all teams to be on an upward curve at once.
So perhaps United World are perceived as the bad guys at times when quite simply it’s just that the ownership doesn’t have the cash to sustain the clubs at their current level for too long.
Ball_Sup (Phil)
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Gentle reminder that United World bought an existing club, changed it's name, changed it's badge, changed the kit colour and moved it to play in a completely different city. Anti-Football.
botoble
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Well at least Chengdu Bulls who became the red and white striped Chengdu blades carried on playing in Chengdu when it was found guilty of fixing matches and then disbanded.
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