KRC Genk - Belgium isn't all chocolate and waffles

[bcfc1]

View attachment 15674

Welcome

After success in my personal save with Birmingham City, I have been looking for a new save to get me interested in the game again. A bit of a break from the game to get involved in a chairman game has been great fun and I recommend everyone to go and read it and get involved as well.

I posted a poll to see what country people would be interested in seeing and the results were very close but in the end it was the country of Belgium that was decided to be the home of my new story.

Belgium is a country I have never managed in but I do have some small knowledge of the country. Anderlecht are clearly the big team in the country with Club Brugge not too far behind so I quickly dismissed those two as I don't want to start at the very top. In the end I decided to go with KRC Genk as they are a club that have produced some great Belgian players including Yannick Carrasco, Thibaut Courtois, Divock Origi and Kevin De Bruyne.

For my story with Genk, I will be looking to develop the squad and to try and dominate both Belgium and then hopefully Europe. I have however set myself some transfer restrictions to try and make the challenge more realistic.

Transfers in

- Only one foreign signing per season. (A foreign players counts as a player that is not Belgian and not playing in Belgium).
- All fees will be paid up front to not take advantage of fees over 48 months.
- Preferably no loan deals but I will be more flexible on this one.

Transfers out

- For players over 21, I must accept any offer that is double their club value.
- For players 21 and under, I must accept any offer that is 3 times their club value.
- Players that are unhappy must be moved on in the next available window, even if offers are not 2/3 times their value.

Club History

Founded - 1923
Ground - Luminus Arena
Capacity - 24,604

View attachment 15673

Up next - Squad Overview


​

 

[WeArePalace]

This should be a really interesting story to read. Love the idea behind it and hope it goes well!

 

[bcfc1]

View attachment 15618​

Squad Overview and Tactics

Goalkeepers

View attachment 15616

A strong start to the squad here as we have the experienced Danny Vukovic and the up and coming Nordin Jackers to choose from. I am hoping to bring in a lot of youth through so I will definitely be giving Jackers plenty of game time from the start but maybe relying on Vukovic in the big games. We also have a 16yr old in the youth system that seems to be highly rated as well called Vandevoordt so if Jackers is stolen by a bigger team then I may already have his replacement lined up.

Full backs

View attachment 15615

The left side is definitely stronger then the right. At left back we have 2 solid young options that have very well-rounded attributes as well. They will be rotated to give both enough game time. At right back we have only one option who is a natural right back in Rubin Seigers but he is only 20yrs old and probably not ready for regular first team football. Both Joakim Maehle and Casper De Norre can both comfortably play there but their most natural positions are right midfield so they are not the most gifted defensively. This may be a position that needs work.

Centre back

View attachment 15614

I am really pleased with the options here as long as we can keep hold of Joseph Aidoo. He is already wanted by Borussia Monchengladbach so we will see over the summer whether we can keep him. If we can’t then we do still have Dries Wouters and Jhon Lucumi as two good young options to step into the team. Sebastien Dewaest looks to be the experienced head at the back, he is still only 27, and I will be hoping he provides a calm head to a very young squad.

Central midfield

View attachment 15613

Another real area of strength here with some very high quality players for this level of team. Sander Berge is the standout name after being seen as a wonderkid for the last couple of years on the game. He doesn’t seem to be as good this year as he was last year but he is still an amazing centre mid for this division and it will be a challenge to keep hold of him. Another star player is Alejandro Pozuelo who looks to be a perfect player open teams up with attributes such as passing, technique, decisions and flair all 15+. It is very annoying then that he already has an agreed transfer to move to Toronto FC come next March. I will be hoping to get the most out of him until then. It will be on the shoulders of Bryan Heynen to eventually replace him and he looks to be the brightest prospect at the club. He has great technical and mental attributes will need to work heavily on his physical stats to become a player that can play 40/50 games a season.

Wingers

View attachment 15612

The right wing seems to be heavily stacked with the two guys (Maehle and De Norre) mentioned earlier who are naturally right midfielders as well as Paintsil, Ndongala and Fiolic all natural right wingers. I will be giving these guys a good looking over and hopefully I can move some of these guys out to raise some funds for any incoming transfer. Leandro Trossard is the only natural left winger so this may be an area I need to bring in some depth for the squad as well.

Strikers

View attachment 15611

I usually play with only 1 striker so having 3 in the squad is about right for me. Mbwana Samatta is the clear first choice and he seems to have a bit of everything to his game which is good to see. Zinho Gano is the Belgian Peter Crouch with a height of 198cm and a jumping reach of 19. He will definitely impact the game when he comes on. Marcus Ingvartsen looks to be a very similar option to Samatta but he starts the season injured for the first 2-4 months so he won’t be getting much game time before the turn of the year.

Tactics

As I said before, I usually play with one striker with tactics such as 433, 4231 and 541 my most commonly used tactics. I plan to stick with a 433 tactic although I am sure it will adapt over pre-season and I will show my final tactical plans before I start the season.

Up next – Pre Season



​

 

[bcfc1]

View attachment 15555

Pre-Season

Friendlies

View attachment 15554

A very solid set of friendly results as we were able to score plenty of goals with at least 2 goals scored in every game. We were a bit open at the back though with only 2 clean sheets from 6 games. This I am hoping is just because I rotated the squad to get everyone fit for the season that’s coming.

Season Preview

View attachment 15552

With the season about to start I decided to look at the predictions for the season and we seem to be in a very healthy position with us predicted to finish 3rd​. There is clearly a top 4 and then the rest in Belgium but I am hoping to break ahead of that group and dominate the league for seasons to come.

Tactics

View attachment 15553

After playing around with it over pre-season, this is the tactic that I have decided to go with from the start of the season. I am hoping that the 3 man midfield will give us a lot of control in most games and also provide a lot of strength when we are under pressure from bigger teams. I can easily change this if the game calls for it as well with Berge dropping to DM to provide more cover or pushing Pozuelo into AM if we want a more creative player directly behind the striker.

Transfers

It has been a very quiet first window with no arrivals or departures at the club so far. There has been a lot of talk Joseph Aidoo leaving but there have been no bids made so far. If there is a bid made then that may change things as he will need to be replaced.

Up next – July and August


​

 

[bcfc1]

July/August – Part 1


With July containing just 2 games I decided to join it together with August and then realised that with the Europa League qualifying games, it is going to be a very busy start of the year so will do July/August in two parts. Once we get further into the season I am hoping to do just one update per month.

BK Hacken 0
KRC Genk 3 (Malinovskyi 20, Ndongala 52, Samatta 69)

Jackers, Seigers (De Norre), Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge (Screciu), Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard (Paintsil), Samatta

The season actually starts with us attempting to qualify for the Europa League group stages. I had no idea what to expect from Hacken but judging from this first leg we have nothing to be worried about. We completely controlled the game and they had only 1 shot which was not even on target. I will be rotating for the second leg to try and get everyone match fit for the season.

Charleroi 2 (Jackers og 31, Perbet 33)
KRC Genk 2 (Samatta 61, Ndongala 63)

Jackers, De Norre, Aidoo, Lucumi (Dewaest), Uronen, Pozuelo (Heynen), Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard (Paintsil), Samatta

The season starts just like our friendlies with us scoring goals but also conceding. Charleroi are a decent team in the league but we were the favourites. After going 2-0 from two quick goals I am glad to get out of there with a point.

KRC Genk 2 (Gano 3, Piotrowski 88)
BK Hacken 0

Vukovic, Seigers (Maehle), Wouters, Dewaest, Borges, Heynen, Zebli, Piotrowski, Fiolic, Paintsil, Gano

From the lineup you can see that I rested the regular team and gave a lot of the other guys some game time. They were still able to deliver a good result and we go through to the 3rd​ qualifying round and have been drawn against Zorya of Ukraine which will be a tougher test.

KRC Genk 3 (Ndongala 2, Trossard 8, Piotrowski 76)
Club Brugge 0 (Vanaken 90+3)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi (Piotrowski), Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

Our first game against another of the big 4 and we run out as comfortable winners. We absolutely dominated the game and it ended with Brugge only having one shot on target which was their goal. If we can perform like this consistently for the season then I can see us challenging for the title in our first season.

KRC Genk 2 (Aidoo 29, Ndongala 78)
Zorya 0

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo (Heynen), Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard (Paintsil), Samatta
Again, I wasn’t sure of what to expect from the opposition and the main thing for me was to try and keep a clean sheet to stop them getting any away goals. Not only could we do that but we also scored twice to give ourselves a strong chance of going through to the final qualifying round before the group stage.

Standard 0
KRC Genk 1 (Malinovskyi 90+2)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi (Dewaest), Uronen, Pozuelo, Piotrowski (Gano), Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Paintsil, Samatta
This was our closest game so far and if anything we were a little lucky to run out as winners. We had a goal disallowed for offside in the 85th​ minute before Malinovskyi scored a 25yd free kick deep into extra time to steal the points from Standard.

Summary

It has been an incredible start to the season as we have played 2 of the other big 4 teams and still remain unbeaten in the league. We also got through the first qualifying round in Europe quite easily and look pretty comfortable to beat Zorya as well. It will still be another round after Zorya before we make the group stages which could bring some good money into the club.

Up next - July/August Part 2​

 

[bcfc1]

July/August – Part 2

Zorya 1 (Solomakha 61)
KRC Genk 2 (Gano 6, Paintsil 74)

Vukovic, De Norre, Dewaest, Wouters, Borges, Heynen, Zebli, Piotrowski, Paintsil, Fiolic, Gano

Another win here means that we go through and are just one knockout round away from the group stages. He may be a big lump of a man but Gano has been very effective when he has played. The draw has given us HNK Rijeka as the final hurdle.

KRC Genk 4 (Pozuelo 5, Samatta 9, Aidoo 36, 37)
STVV 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta (Gano)

The game was over in 10 minutes really and Aidoo just added some real gloss to the result.

HNK Rijeka 1 (Colak 74)
KRC Genk 4 (Malinovskyi 59, 88, Trossard 67, Pozuelo 85)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge (Piotrowski), Malinovskyi, Ndongala (Paintsil), Trossard, Samatta

A really good win here away from home all but confirms our passage to the group stages of the Europa League. Two late goals from Pozuelo and Malinovskyi gave it a comfortable look but really it was a much closer game.

Oostende 0
KRC Genk 1 (Pozuelo 46)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

The score should have been a lot bigger as we dominated the game but just couldn’t finish our chances. The only goal came from a long range shot from Pozuelo.

KRC Genk 3 (Seigers 27, Gano 55, Fiolic 67pen)
HNK Rijeka 2 (Heber 50, Colak 77)

Vukovic, Seigers, Wouters, Dewaest, Borges, Heynen, Piotrowski, Zebli, Fiolic, Paintsil, Gano

Another game where the flood gates opened in terms of goals. It was just 1-0 at half time but the goals came and it sees us go through to the group stages where we meet Lazio, Burnley and Akhisarspor.

View attachment 15490

Summary

A really busy strong to the season has brought great success as we have battled through 3 qualifying rounds to reach the group stages of the Europa League and have a group where we could qualify from. In the league, since the draw on the opening day of the season, we have won every game and sit at the top by 3 points.

Player of the month
Jere Uronen

View attachment 15489

5 assists in 8 games is a great return for a LB.

League Table

View attachment 15488

Up next - September​

 

[bcfc1]

September

KRC Genk 2 (Malinovskyi 32, Ndongala 73)
Mouscron 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

Another strong victory here where we never looked to be in too much trouble. While Ndongala got the MOTM, I have been really impressed with Malinovskyi in midfield. While Berge and Pozuelo control the ball, Malinovskyi breaks the defensive lines to create chances. Unfortunately he is already attracting attention from Monaco.

Zulte Waregem 0
KRC Genk 3 (Trossard 11, Samatta 26, Ndongala 32)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo (Dewaest), Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge (Piotrowski), Malinovskyi (Heynen), Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

2 assists for Uronen gave him the MOTM award. He is an assist machine at the moment. I’m assuming it is Trossard coming inside that gives him the space to put in good crosses. If it continues I can only imagine that someone will come in for him as well.

KRC Genk 2 (Pozuelo 58, Gano 90+3)
Lazio 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard (Paintsil), Samatta (Gano)

I was fully expecting to go into this game and lose our winning run but an early red card for Lazio gave us the advantage we needed to run out as winners. This has given me optimism of possibly qualifying from our group now.

KRC Genk 3 (Samatta 13pen, 31, Pozuelo 26)
Waasland-Beveren 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

Another good performance here. There is clearly some good quality in this team and the challenge now is to keep hold of them.

Pastro Eisden 0
KRC Genk 1 (Aerts 90+3og)

Vukovic, Seigers, Dewaest, Wouters, Borges, Heynen, Piotrowski, Zebli, Fiolic, Paintsil, Gano

I may have played the backups here but this is still the worst performance so far this season. I rested players as this was a cup game we got very lucky at the end to win it. They never had a shot on target so we never looked like losing but we didn’t really look like winning either.

Lokeren 0
KRC Genk 2 (Samatta 26, 28)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Borges, Pozuelo, Berge (Screciu), Malinovskyi (Heynen), Ndongala, Samatta

A strong end to the month brings up another win and in good fashion as well. Uronen picked up an injury in training so Borges will need to step up for the next few weeks and try and cement a place in the team.

Summary

A perfect month where we played where we played 6 and won 6. We also didn’t concede a single goal in any of those games. We didn’t play any big guns in the league so that isn’t too surprising but the result against Lazio was, even if we were helped by an early red card.

Player of the month
Mbwana Samatta

View attachment 15410

League Table

View attachment 15409

Up next - October


​

 

[bcfc1]

October

Akhisarspor 0
KRC Genk 1 (Samatta 24pen)

Jackers, Maehle (Seigers), Aidoo, Lucumi, Borges, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi (Screciu), Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

A really good result away from home as any away game in Europe can go badly. 2 wins from 2 puts us in a strong position for the rest of the group.

KRC Genk 5 (Pozuelo 27, Samatta 42, 89, Lucumi 60, Trossard 69)
Cercle Brugge 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

An incredible result here against a team that are sitting 3rd​ in the table. We just didn’t let up throughout the game and it shows from adding a 5th​ goal in the 89th​ minute.

Burnley 1 (Barnes 62)
KRC Genk 1 (Pozuelo 90+4)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Borges (Uronen), Pozuelo, Screciu, Heynen (Malinovskyi), Ndongala, Trossard, Gano (Ingvartsen)

We got lucky with a great late strike from Pozuelo stealing a point. To get a point from Turf Moor is a very good result and we therefore sit on 7 points halfway through the group stage. I was also able to give Ingvartsen his first minutes of the season as he comes back from injury.

KRC Genk 0
Antwerp 0

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen (Borges), Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard (Paintsil), Samatta (Gano)

Another draw but this time I am disappointed with it. At home against a weaker side in the league, I was fully expecting a win but we just couldn’t break Antwerp down over 90 minutes.

Summary

A quieter month due to an international break means that any we only played 4 games in this month compared to the 6 in September and the 9 in August. 2 wins and 2 draws means that we are still unbeaten this season but the draw against Antwerp was a disappointing end. Next month brings the biggest challenge to our unbeaten run in our away game to Lazio but the league games look easier.

Player of the month
Alejandro Pozuelo

View attachment 15375

League Table

View attachment 15374

Up next - November

​

 

[bcfc1]

November

Eupen 0
KRC Genk 2 (Uronen 2, Samatta 31pen)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge (Zebli), Malinovskyi (Heynen), Ndongala (Paintsil), Trossard, Samatta

A solid win here that keeps us ticking over in the league. The form of Charleroi means that we need to keep these kind of results going to stay top of the table.

KRC Genk 3 (Samatta 36, 71, 90+2)
Burnley 3 (Tarkowski 19, Brady 29, Barnes 41)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo (Dewaest), Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge (Heynen), Malinovskyi (Gano), Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

To steal a point from them once was lucky, to do it a second time just shows the determination and the energy this team has. It was a 94th​ minute goal last time and this time it is a 92nd​ minute which gets us a point from 3-1 down.

KRC Genk 1 (Samatta 90+6pen)
KV Kortrijk 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Hernen, Malinovskyi (Fiolic), Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

We got extremely lucky here as the game looked to be drifting out to a 0-0 draw until we got a penalty in the 5th​ minute of 4 added minutes to ****** the victory. Malinovskyi picked up an injury here that will see him out for 6 weeks which is frustrating but it should give Heynen the chance to get some regular game time.

AA Gent 2 (Plastun 1, Sorloth 88)
KRC Genk 5 (Trossard 8, 85, Ingvartsen 25, Plastun 44og, Ndongala 59)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen (Borges), Pozuelo, Berge (Screciu), Heynen, Ndongala, Trossard, Ingvartsen

When they scored in first minute I had the feeling that our run was finally going to end but the team battled back and we were 3-1 up before half time. There were some great goals in this game including Trossard scoring a 30yd free kick and Ndongala smashing in a volley from the edge of the box.

Lazio 2 (Correa 3, Immobile 77)
KRC Genk 1 (Samatta 21)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Piotrowski, Heynen, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

And the run finally ends. It was an incredible run to go unbeaten until the end of November but Lazio finally end that. We were never really there in this game and didn’t deserve anything. We now go into the last game of the group stages needing to do better against Akhisarspor than Burnley against Lazio otherwise we will be out of Europe.

Summary

It was a solid month where we won every league game but only picked up 1 point in 2 European games. The aim for next month is to qualify from our Europa League group and also win our next game in the Belgian Cup. We also face Anderlecht at the start of the month which will be a big challenge.

Player of the month
Alejandro Pozuelo

View attachment 15254

League Table

View attachment 15253

Up next - December

​

 

[bcfc1]

December

KRC Genk 3 (Trossard 45, 79, Dewaest 52)
Anderlecht 1 (Najar 38)

Jackers, Maehle, Dewaest, Lucumi, Borges, Pozuelo, Berge, Heynen, Paintsil, Trossard, Ingvartsen

A really good result here that leaves struggling Anderlecht in mid table. They had sacked their manager a couple of weeks before this game and they are still struggling for results.

KRC Genk 5 (Gano 2, Zebli 39, 52, Wouters 57, Fiolic 78)
Oostende 1 (Nastic 81)

Vukovic, Seigers, Dewaest, Wouters, Borges, Piotrowski, Screciu, Zebli, Fiolic, Painstil, Gano

A very good win here in the cup means we are now through to the quarter final of the Belgian Cup. We have been drawn against 2nd​ place Charleroi who we also play next in the league so it is going to be a very big couple of games.

KRC Genk 4 (Ndongala 38, Aidoo 58, Lucumi 68, Piotrowski 85)
Charleroi 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Piotrowski, Heynen, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

A dominating win against 2nd​ in table just confirms for me that we have full control over this league. The ambition now is to keep hold of it after the January window where I am almost certainly going to lose some players.

KRC Genk 6 (Samatta 6, 7, 60, 77, Lucumi 43, Heynen 58)
Akhisarspor 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Heynen, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!! I can’t imagine many people are angry after a 6-0 win but when Burnley also got a 1-0 win against Lazio it means our win was for nothing and even though we scored 11 points, we find ourselves finishing in 3rd​ place and out of Europe. I don’t know what the record number of points and still go out is but this must be close to it. This means our run in Europe is over and the focus is now on dominating the league and to try and win the domestic double if possible.

Club Brugge 3 (Vossen 10, 44, 84)
KRC Genk 5 (Trossard 11pen, Ingvartsen 24, Berge 60, Mitrovic 73og, Paintsil 83)

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Dewaest, Borges, Pozuelo (Piotrowski), Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala (Paintsil), Trossard, Ingvartsen

A terrible defensive performance but we were lethal in front of goal. All of Vossen’s goals were almost identical with just a long ball over the top and he slotted them away. With so many games coming thick and fast I am having to rotate the squad regularly but that doesn’t seem to be causing any issues when it comes to the results.

Charleroi 0
KRC Genk 2 (Pozuelo 38, Heynen 61)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Dewaest, Uronen, Pozuelo, Piotrowski, Heynen (Zebli), Ndongala, Trossard (Paintsil), Samatta (Gano)

Another win against Charleroi for this month and this time it is in the cup. We got drew against Standard in semi-finals who are also our next league game so it will be good chance to see what threat they have.

KRC Genk 3 (Malinoskyi 7, 58, Berge 66)
Standard 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Borges, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta (Gano)
When their keeper gets the 2nd​ highest average rating after our double goalscorer, I think that shows just how much pressure we put on their goal. Malinovskyi delivered with 2 free kicks and a rare goal from Berge meant we stay unbeaten in the league.

KRC Genk 1 (Ingvartsen 81)
Oostende 0

Jackers, Siegers, Dewaest, Wouters, Borges, Zebli, Screciu, Piotrowski, Paintsil, Fiolic, Ingvartsen

A solid win here for the back ups against a team sitting bottom of the table. We have another game just 2 days later so I decided to take the risk now and play the b team but they delivered the 3 points, even if I did have to wait until the 81st​ minute for the goal to come.

STVV 1 (Sylla 89)
KRC Genk 1 (Samatta 14)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Heynen, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

This is our last game before the winter break and I was disappointed to not get the 3 points. We had plenty of chances but couldn’t put them away and then at the end of the game they caught us with a long ball over the top to equalise. This result means we go into the winter break with a healthy lead over 2nd​ and also unbeaten in the first part of the season.

Summary

It has been a strong month where we won every game until the last one. The only down point is that despite only losing 1 game, we are out of Europe after finishing 3rd​ to Lazio and Burnley. It means we won’t be getting any more prize money from Europe and with the club currently £8million in the red we will almost definitely be selling in January.

Player of the month
Joakim Maehle

View attachment 15176

League Table

View attachment 15175

Up next – January window preview

​

 

[bcfc1]

Transfer Window Preview

As of the 1st​ January, these are the current players wanted by other clubs.

Joseph Aidoo (PSV)
Rubin Seigers (Swansea)
Jere Uronen (Everton, Leeds, Real Hispalis)
Joakim Maehle (Everton, Newcastle, Benfica, Hoffenheim)
Mbwana Samatta (Espanyol)

Plenty of others have had interest in them as well as the season has gone on including Berge, Malinovskyi, Trossard and Ingvartsen.

Just to remind everyone of my transfer policy

Transfers in

- Only one foreign signing per season. (A foreign players counts as a player that is not Belgian and not playing in Belgium).
- All fees will be paid up front to not take advantage of fees over 48 months.
- Preferably no loan deals but I will be more flexible on this one.

Transfers out

- For players over 21, I must accept any offer that is double their club value.
- For players 21 and under, I must accept any offer that is 3 times their club value.
- Players that are unhappy must be moved on in the next available window, even if offers are not 2/3 times their value.

In terms of any possible arrivals, it all depends on the players going out really. We don’t desperately need any position as feel Heynen will be able to step up when Pozuelo eventually leaves. I wouldn’t mind a natural left winger to rotate with Trossard instead of putting right winger Paintsil out there but that isn’t a big priority as Paintsil is playing well when out there.

Up next - January

​

 

[bcfc1]

January

Mouscron 0
KRC Genk 1 (Samatta 52pen)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Samatta

A nice return from our winter break as we gain 3 points and keep our unbeaten run in the league going in the new year.

Standard 1 (Djenepo 11)
KRC Genk 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinoskyi, Ndongala, Paintsil, Samatta

Our first loss to another Belgian team comes in the semi final of the Belgian Cup. Thankfully the semi final has two legs and we will have the chance to correct this result.

KRC Genk 2 (Samatta 7pen, Ndongala 32)
Zulte Waregem 0

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard (Paintsil), Samatta

Another solid win here in the league and another clean sheet to go with it. Uronen is piling up the assists for the season as he gets another two assists here. He is one player I am really worried about losing as he has almost constantly had interest in him.

Waasland-Beveren 0
KRC Genk 2 (Ingvartsen 14, Maehle 42)

Jackers, Maehle, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Trossard, Ingvartsen

Another clean sheet as the defence at the moment seems so strong. I played this game twice as after the first time my laptop crashed. The first time we won the game 4-0 so we lost a couple of goals but still picked up the 3 points which is the most important thing.

Transfers

Everything was very quiet until transfer deadline day when the offers started to come in. We had offers for Aidoo and Uronen but nothing close to double their club value. We did however lose two big names.

The first one we lost was Leandro Trossard who went to Crystal Palace in a deal that could be worth up to £16.75mil. He was worth £8mil at the time so any offer above £16mil had to be accepted and I was gutted to lose him as I don’t have another natural left winger. He had 9 goals and 6 assists in his 31 games so far this season and it will be the job of either Paintsil or Fiolic to come in and replace that for the rest of the season.

To make things worse, we then lost Joakim Maehle to RB Leipzig who came in with a deal worth up to £19mil for him. They originally made a bid of £10mil which is just above his £7.5mil value so I negotiated for £20mil and they came back with the £19mil offer which had to be accepted. I have confidence in Seigers stepping into this position so it isn’t as big a loss but he had provided 1 goal and 9 assists in his 28 games so far which is a good return for a full back.

There was only one player coming in and it wasn’t a wide man like I wanted it to be. I ended up bringing in Felix Uduokhai from Wolfsburg for just £1.5mil. He was transfer listed and looked like a really good deal. With the form of Aidoo and Lucumi, he might struggle to break into the defence straight away but I would predict at least one of them will be leaving next summer so he will be at the heart of the defence next season. It also gives me the option to switch to 3 at the back if I want to.

View attachment 14970

Player of the month
Jere Uronen

View attachment 14969

League Table

View attachment 14968

Up next – February

​

 

[bcfc1]

February

KRC Genk 0
Lokeren 0

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Fiolic, Samatta

With the changes after the transfer window, I was worried we might lose this game so I am glad to see our unbeaten league season continue. The game was pretty boring in the end with neither team creating many chances.

KRC Genk 4 (Paintsil 15, Piotrowski 27, 56, Ingvartsen 31)
Standard 0

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Uduokhai, Borges, Heynen, Screciu, Piotrowski, Paintsil, Fiolic, Ingvartsen

I was always confident that we would turn around our 1-0 loss in the first leg and we comfortably did so here. Piotrowski delivered with 2 goals and he is a player that probably needs to be getting more game time as he looks to be a good talent.

Cercle Brugge 0
KRC Genk 3 (Samatta 18, 49pen, 55)

Jackers, De Norre, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Pozuelo, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Paintsil, Samatta

A great strikers performance from Samatta here who delivered with 3 very different types of goals. A header, a penalty and a shot from outside the box delivered 3 goals and 3 points.

Antwerp 1 (Bolingi 52)
KRC Genk 4 (Samatta 18, Malinovskyi 59, Fiolic 67, Paintsil 90+2)

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo (Dewaest), Uduokhai, Borges, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala (Paintsil), Fiolic, Samatta

Another game where we rack up the goals. We have been incredible in front of goal with Samatta rightly getting a lot of goals but so have a lot of other players to contribute to the total.

KRC Genk 3 (Ndongala 81, Fiolic 83, Samatta 90+4pen)
Eupen 1 (Pollet 47)

Vukovic, Seigers, Aidoo, Uduokhai, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Fiolic, Samatta

We got very lucky here as with 10 minutes to go it looked like we were going to lose our unbeaten streak at home to bottom of the table. Thankfully we got 2 goals in 2 minutes to turn it around and then a very late penalty made the result look a lot better than it actually was.

Summary

Another strong month where we won all but one game and made sure we progressed to the final of the Belgian Cup. As it hasn’t come this month, I can assume that the youth intake will be at some stage next month and I am hoping to get a few decent youngsters come through to hopefully develop in the next couple of seasons.

Player of the Month
Ruslan Malinovskyi

View attachment 14912

League Table

View attachment 14911

Up next - March​

 

[bcfc1]

March

KV Kortrijk 0
KRC Genk 1 (Paintsil 79)

Vukovic, De Norre, Wouters, Lucumi, Uronen, Heynen, Piotrowski, Malinovskyi, Paintsil, Fiolic, Ingvartsen

I decided to rotate a lot of the squad here and it almost cost us. We weren’t as fluid as we usually are and took almost 80 minutes to get a goal. Thankfully we never looked like conceding though as they barely had a shot all game.

[FONT=&quot]KRC Genk 1 (Ndongala 22)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]AA Gent 1 (Kerk 40)[/FONT]

Vukovic, Seigers, Aidoo, Uduokhai, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi (Piotrowski), Ndongala, Paintsil (Fiolic), Samatta (Ingvartsen)

We scrapped a draw here against a decent Gent team. We seem to be running out of steam a little towards the end of the normal season as we don’t seem to be blowing teams as away like we were earlier in the season. This was also meant to be Pozuelo’s last game before his move to the MLS but he got injured in training which means he will leave having not played in the last couple of games.

Anderlecht 2 (Amuzu 36, Santini 62)
KRC Genk 2 (Malinovskyi 7, 28)

Jackers, De Norre, Lucumi, Uduokhai, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Paintsil (Fiolic), Samatta (Gano)

Anderlecht have really struggled this season and sit in the middle of table. When we took 2 goal lead thanks to 2 free kicks from Malinovskyi, I never expected them to fight back into the game. In the end we were holding on for a draw as they had a couple of chances towards the end of the game to win it.

View attachment 14888

Championship Group

With the end of the main season, we now go into something called the Championship Group. After the end of the regular season, the top 6 teams are all moved into a separate league and play each other again twice to decide who actually wins the league. The points gained so far are halved which means our 21 point lead at the end of the regular season is now just 10 points.

Club Brugge 1 (Danjuma 73)
KRC Genk 2 (Samatta 71pen, Malinovskyi 77)

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen (Borges), Heynen, Berge (Piotrowski), Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Fiolic, Samatta (Gano)

The start of the Championship group brings 3 points against one of our biggest challengers. We probably need to win around 5 of these extra 10 games to win the league and to get a win in the first game puts us in a very strong position.

Summary

Another month passes by and we look almost certain winners of the league. The loss of Pozuelo means that Heynen will be stepping into the first team and Piotrowski will be more involved as the first backup midfielder. It should also allow Zebli and Screciu to get more game time as well when we need to rotate the squad.

Player of the Month
Ruslan Malinovskyi

View attachment 14889

League Table

View attachment 14887
Up next - April​

 

[bcfc1]

April

KRC Genk 2 (Samatta 27, 84)
Standard 0

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Fiolic, Samatta

Samatta delivered with the goals here as he has done all season. His form has meant that both Gano and Ingvartsen are beginning to get unhappy due to lack of game time, especially Gano who has barely played a minute since Ingvartsen regained his fitness.

AA Gent 2 (Sorloth 19, Derijck 85)
KRC Genk 3 (Ndongala 24, Malinovskyi 33, Fiolic 88)

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Udoukhai, Borges, Heynen, Piotrowski, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Fiolic, Ingvartsen

We got very lucky here with a late goal from Fiolic giving us the points. We have usually been very tight at the back but in this game we looked wide open and they could have scored more.

KRC Genk 6 (Paintsil 8, 90+3, Uronen 23, Malinovskyi 29, 36, Samatta 42)
Charleroi 2 (Osimhen 50, Diandy 85)

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Fiolic, Paintsil, Samatta

With Charleroi 2nd​ in the table, I was expecting a hard game but we absolutely blew them away in the first half. They got 2 goals in the second half which was annoying as I like to keep as many clean sheets as possible but we got 6 goals against our closest challengers this season and are now just one win away from securing the title.

Lokeren 0
KRC Genk 0

Jackers, De Norre, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Piotrowski, Ndongala, Paintsil, Ingvartsen

We had the chance to win the title here but choked at our first attempt. We will surely win the title and now only need 1 more point from our remaining 5 games but I would have liked to have got it done at the first attempt.

KRC Genk 1 (Fiolic 24)
Club Brugge 0

Jackers, Seigers, Udoukhai, Lucumi, Borges, Heynen, Screciu, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Fiolic, Samatta

CHAMPIONS!!!! Club Brugge have at times looked like the team most likely to break our unbeaten run but here we were able to mostly keep them quiet and get the goal needed to collect the 3 points and the title.

Summary

This month provided us with the chance to mathematically secure the title and we finally did at our second attempt and with 4 games remaining. I now have the choice of continuing with the regular first team to try and stay unbeaten or to give some younger players more game time. We also have the Belgian Cup final to compete in to try and secure the double.

Player of the month
Rubin Seigers

View attachment 14826

League Table

View attachment 14825

Up next - May

​

 

[bcfc1]

May

Standard 2 (Carcela 10, Sa 89)
KRC Genk 3 (Fiolic 33, Ingvartsen 40, Piotrowski 73)

Jackers, Seigers (De Norre), Aidoo, Lucumi (Wouters), Borges, Heynen, Piotrowski, Paintsil, Fiolic, Ingvartsen

I decided to not go too crazy on bringing the youngsters and I am glad I played it a little safe as we only just won this game in the end. People like Fiolic and Piotrowski are making me change my plans for the summer as they are showing they can play well at this level.

[FONT=&quot]KRC Genk 1 (Samatta 38pen)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]AA Gent 0[/FONT]

Jeckers, Seigers, Aidoo, Uduokhai, Uronen, Zebli, Berge, Piotrowski, Paintsil, Fiolic, Samatta

Zebli got a rare outing here as both Heynen and Malinovskyi needed a rest. We definitely lacked their creative flair in midfield but we were much stronger at the back and dominated the game. It took a penalty to decide the game in the end but we should have won by 2 or 3 really.

Mouscron 0
KRC Genk 1 (Ndongala 20)

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen (Borges), Heynen, Piotrowski (Screciu), Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Paintsil (Ingvartsen), Samatta

KRC GENK COMPLETE THE DOUBLE!!!!!! I rested a couple of players against AA Gent to make sure they were fit and ready for this game and they delivered as Heynen put in a MOTM performance and provided the assist for Ndongala’s goal. Heynen has developed into a great CM and the departure of Pozuelo in March has just fast tracked his development.

Charleroi 0
KRC Genk 0

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Lucumi, Uronen, Heynen, Berge, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Paintsi (Fiolic), Samatta
This was the last big challenge to our unbeaten record as we were away from home against 2nd​ in the table. When we failed to put chance after chance away I started to get really worried about a sucker punch coming but thankfully Charleroi didn’t really have anything to throw at us and the game just drifted to a bore draw.

KRC Genk 2 (Fiolic 39, Ndongala 76)
Lokeren 0

Jackers, Seigers, Aidoo, Dewaest, Uronen, Heynen, Piotrowski, Malinovskyi, Ndongala, Fiolic, Samatta

UNBEATEN!!!!! In the 3 days between this and the Charleroi game, Lucumi, Udoukhai and Berge all picked up injuries that ruled them out but our quality up top shone through as we collected 3 more points in our final game which means we went the entire league season unbeaten.

Summary

A great end to the season where we win our second piece of silverware and also made sure that we finished the league season unbeaten. We only conceded 2 goals this month which were both against Standard and finished with 4 clean sheets in a row which is pleasing as it hopefully means we can build on this defence for next season.

Player of the month
Jhon Lucumi

View attachment 14824

League Table

View attachment 14823

Up next – End of Season Review

​

 

[bcfc1]

End of season review

Overall it has been a very successful season with us finishing with 2 pieces of silverware and a solid foundation to build on. The disappointment of Europe still lingers as we failed to qualify from our Europa League group despite losing just one game and collecting 11 points. Next season should see us in the Champions League where the challenge will be much higher and we hope to be able to pick a point from anywhere.

We ran away with league really and, if it wasn’t for the fact that all points get halved when we get put into the Championship group, we would have won the league a lot earlier in the season. A major part of our success has been our strength at the back where we conceded just 22 goals in 40 league games. The partnership of Aidoo and Lucumi has been tremendous and I have been lucky enough to give Aidoo a new contract just before the summer window to hopefully keep clubs from coming in for him. If it doesn’t then it should at least mean it will take a big bid to take him from us.
Financially we are in a lot of trouble as even though we have made almost 45mil from Trossard, Maehle and Pozuelo, we are still sitting in the red at the end of the season and some players will most likely have to be sold to balance the books again.

Squad

View attachment 14822View attachment 14821

Jackers was the clear regular in goal with 50 appearances this season. He kept 33 clean sheets in those 50 appearances which is really good to see. Mbwana Samatta delivered the goals with 34 throughout the season and Jere Uronen made the most assists with 13. I was also very pleased with the CB partnership of Aidoo and Lucumi who dominated games for us and also got forward for set pieces and delivered 7 goals between them. I also need to mention Dieumerci Ndongala who at the start of the season almost didn’t make the starting XI over Joseph Paintsil but delivered all season long with 14 goals and 7 assists.

End of season awards

View attachment 14817View attachment 14816View attachment 14815

League table

View attachment 14820

Up next - Pre-Season​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

A great first season there fella! Well done

 

[WeArePalace]

Agreed it's been a great start at the club, especially with the loss of some key players. The team has some great depth. Well done, best of luck in Europe!

 

[bcfc1]

A great first season there fella! Well done

Thanks. It has been a big surprise. The poor form of teams like Standard and especially Anderlecht made our season a little easier. I'm expecting a tougher season next time.

Agreed it's been a great start at the club, especially with the loss of some key players. The team has some great depth. Well done, best of luck in Europe!

I thought the loss of Trossard and then Pozuelo would affect us in creating and scoring goals but people like Fiolic and Heynen really stepped up to contribute to the team. I will be hoping to make those two more regular players next season.