Club Brugge's new coach: The first candidate leaves the door open

Nicky Hain is currently doing an excellent job as interim coach at Club Brugge. He is increasingly expected to be appointed permanent coach for next season. But the preferred role for this position is reserved for someone else at the moment.

After the disappointing performance last season in his country, the Brugge Board of Directors decided last summer to put the sporting fate in the hands of Ronny Deila. But it ultimately turned out that his appointment was not a good choice. The day after the regular competition, which ended in fourth place, the Norwegian was forced to retire.

U23 coach Hayen was then appointed interim to the T1 position for the first team. The former president of STVV is currently working beyond everyone's expectations. Under his leadership, the club has secured a ticket to the semi-finals of the Conference League and Blau Zwart is once again fully in contention for the national title.

Hein or a new name?

There is therefore growing speculation about Hayne's permanent appointment, which is not unreasonable given the results. At first, Borouge's board of directors didn't want to know much about it. “It's still too early to draw major conclusions,” CEO Bob Maddow said last week. “We're not going to change our plan suddenly.”

But as Hayne continues to confirm, the club's management is said to be gradually changing. For example, they will first want to wait for the upcoming matches before deciding on the interim coach. However, Karel Geraerts appears to be the favorite to win the Brugge coach's job.

Running the nodes no problem

The former midfielder was already in the picture at the end of last season, and in recent weeks it has been reported several times that his name is once again at the top of the wish list. There was one major stumbling block. After all, Gerarts is still contracted to Schalke until mid-2025, but that doesn't seem to be a big deal after all.

During his press interview on Thursday, Geraerts made it clear that it is not certain that he will terminate his agreement in Gelsenkirchen. “At the moment, no one has any guarantees for next season. Yes, I still have one year left on my contract, but a lot has happened this season. That is why we must first ensure we retain our squad and then I will make the right correction,” he was quoted as saying by the analysis. Sodpress. So Club Brugge's door is open again.