Ronny Deila for the happy reunion with his ex-assistant Rik De Mil: “We exchanged messages”

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About a month ago they were still on the training field together, on Saturday they will be nose to nose. Ronny Deila fights his ex-assistant Rik De Mil during Club Brugge-Westerlo. The man he convinced last season to stay with blue-black. “I often let Rik De Mil do things as head coach.”

When Ronny Deila signed for Club Brugge, it was no secret that he wanted to keep Rik De Mil on board. The East Flemish player ended the season as interim coach at Blue-Black and did a good job. Last summer there was interest from other clubs.

Not this week

“Of course I’m sorry he left. Rik is a very good coach,” says Deila. De Mil worked at Club for almost ten years. “He brought stability. But for him, the move to Westerlo felt like the right choice at the right time. I fully understand that.”

However, Deila did everything she could to assign De Mil the necessary responsibility. “I let him do things that a head coach normally does,” says the Norwegian. “We often used him as a T1. But he had to seize that opportunity at Westerlo. We never wanted to stop him. I wouldn’t like that either if such an opportunity presented itself. Since Rik joined Westerlo, a lot has changed in that club.”

Out of sight does not mean out of mind: Deila and De Mil were still in touch after he moved to the Kempen. “We exchanged messages at Christmas and after New Year,” says Deila. “Not this week of course: no hard feelingsbut on Saturday it is only about the three points.”

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Nice chance

With Westerlo, Charleroi and Kortrijk, the coming weeks look smooth for Club Brugge. Are these ideal competitions to raise the level, or are they mainly treacherous assignments? “We just have to win them,” Deila shrugged. “Every match is a great opportunity to show what we are capable of. But then the team has to be ready. We are now undefeated for twelve games. That is only possible if you stay focused. Whether we play against Antwerp or Westerlo: we have to be there.”

After the victory over Ghent, Club Brugge was once again criticized: it was not convincing at all. “Oh well, there is criticism of everything we do,” says Deila. “I’m just happy that we are the first team to beat the Buffaloes at home. We were excellent defensively, we also controlled well at times. Only during the last ten minutes was there some stress. We need to think even less about the outcome. But there are always areas to work on.”

Challenge the system

In the meantime, it also became clear that Club still wants to replay the match in Mechelen. It initiated two different proceedings after a goal by Thiago was wrongly disallowed. “That is a choice of the club,” says Deila. “We have to challenge the system, because things like this really shouldn’t happen. Whether that was human error or not.”

© Isosport

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