Glen De Boeck got up every day at 5 a.m. this week to get a handle on KV Kortrijk: “If necessary, I will work day and night”

The first question at his first press conference as reigning coach immediately yields a very clear and telling answer. What was his first week like as the new coach of KV Kortrijk? “Tiring,” De Boeck grins. “You can also hear that in my voice because it is hoarse. There is a lot to do and this week I had to do what another coach normally does in six weeks. I have taken over before, but usually they change coaches during an international break and you have ten to twelve days, but now it had to go faster. Anyway, if I have to, I work day and night, I already did that last week. I was already busy last Wednesday, but then I consciously chose not to burden the players too much, but the staff and that worked out well. .”

“A lot has happened to me since Monday and it’s all in a short period of time, you shouldn’t underestimate that. I also apologize for being a little late today, half an hour even, but I still had conversations and the press is important to me, but my players are even more important.”

De Boeck in full detail and has therefore not changed a bit, unless he has become a bit older and looks less fresh than in his early years. But he says he has an excellent staff to assist him. He is full of praise for Joseph Akpala, who guided the team to its first victory last Friday, and the experienced Urbain Spaenhoven. “He is top in terms of field training and you can ask him whatever you want, he will pull a suitable training out of his hat every minute,” De Boeck stated with satisfaction. “I always say that as a head coach you have to be dispensable and you try to instill that in them so that they can also function without me.”

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To adjust

That worked fine last week. De Boeck did have telephone contact with the bank during the match against Cercle, but is happy that he can now direct and adjust himself in Westerlo. The winner in ‘t Kuipje can do a golden thing, the loser can get a serious mental blow.

De Boeck refuses to go along with this. “It is too early in the season to talk about a six-point match, cellar cracker or relegation top,” he says. “I don’t agree with that, every match is different, there is a different one for every match gameplan. Based on the ranking we couldn’t win against Cercle and yet it happened. You have a chance in every match, but you have to take the opponent into account. I have to install something here that can work in a short time.”

It was an exhausting but educational week for the new coach. “I constantly had individual conversations, we organized training courses that allowed me to see certain things I didn’t know about this group. It is important to discover these players as quickly as possible. I was quickly convinced that I had to do this because I see plenty of possibilities with this group. The transfer market is closed and I have to work with who is there and adapt to the circumstances.”

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Avenatti restored

Ambrose, Challouk and Mehassato are out. The latter dropped out against Cercle and will be unavailable for four weeks. Mbayo and Wasinski also did not train and are not in the selection.

“The day before the match I have the habit of training with the boys who are in the eighteen-year group,” De Boeck explained. Unlike last week, Avenatti is now there. “I had a good conversation with Felipe, I stated what and how and although I do not live in the past, I have returned to it. It was a very good conversation, I saw good things from him in training and that suggests the best for the future.”

© BELGIUM

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