Happy Saturday everybody!

I hope you all enjoyed the new blog of Nick as much as I did yesterday. Big shoes to fill and keep you entertained as we go into the weekend. I hope I can with the last part of Season 6!

It’s been a great season so far! Abeels (Nilis) is taking big steps towards stardom and we are taking advantage of that. We are a title contender again this season and after 20 matches in the regular season we are together with Standard in 1st position. They have only lost once and their defence is rock solid. If we think of going for back-to-back titles, we will have to deal with the “Rouches”.

We start the blog at Waregem. De Wilde (Van Der Elst) starts a 3-match suspension, so it is a perfect opportunity to give Cannaerts (Emmers) a few additional matches. No matter how much I like De Wilde (Van Der Elst), it’s Cannaerts (Emmers) who I am seeing as my future number 8. We play a mediocre match and a 1-1 draw is a fitting result for the game. A disappointing start.

Our first home match today is against Lierse. They were again short in cash (what else is new) and had to sell the Southall regen. They now have Dutchman Waterreus in goal. That’s not a bad choice, but it should make them easier to beat. At least, in my mind that is. He plays an excellent match, keeps a clean sheet and we draw again. That’s even more disappointing then losing points at Waregem.

Cup time! The lads make up for their slow start and get a 3-0 win against Standard. We weren’t as dominant as the score leads to believe though. Van Meir (Preud’homme) shows again how crucial it is to have an excellent goalkeeper in the game. The semi final links us to Lierse, so we’ll have a chance to make up for the draw of last week.

Next we travel to Charleroi, with their 3rd position the surprise so far this season. I keep confidence in Cannaerts (Emmers) and after a strong 1-4 performance, I decide to start him for the remainder of the season.

Against Germinal Ekeren we take the lead early in the game. It should have been easily 0-3 at half time, but instead we concede a goal in the 44th minute. Englebert (Vervoort) ruins it with his red card and it’s draw number 3 in our last 4 league games.

Despite our slow start 6 of our players receive a call-up from Leekens for Belgium’s next qualification match.

Because of all our recent draws Standard has taken a 3-point lead in the standings. If we want to stay in the title race, we have to repeat what we did in the Cup: beat them at home in the competition. And we do! Our newborn star Abeels (Nilis) leads us to the win.

Leekens, what the hell are you doing? How do you even manage to do that?

The win against Standard gave the lads an enormous boost of confidence. We walk all over Gent: 0-4.

In the meantime all our key players are back from injury. Cannaerts (Emmers) & Goor (Van Kets) still have to further mature, but I consider this our strongest possible line-up.

And it shows, we outclass Diest: 6-2.

Well, that line-up lasted just 1 match: Appels (Grun) picks up a minor injury and is out for a few weeks. Westerlo puts up a decent fight, but we manage to turn a 1-0 half-time deficit into in a 1-2 win. Abeels (Nilis) shows again how important he has become and adds another 2 goals to his total. He won’t top the 44 goals of Van Den Eede last season, but if he can continue at this rate, he’ll finish +30 for sure.

Another key player is Nasden (Lemoine). I hesitated a few times this season to put Six (Brogno) in the line-up instead of him. But he is playing simply too well. Especially with Appels (Grun) injured, he is the perfect back-up captain and leader of the team.

Leekens, are you sure about that? You have never shown that much interest in our players, and now you give 7 of them a call-up. You better win!

Cup time again! In a one-directional match we struggle again to beat Waterreus. Just once in the entire match he leaves too much space, Nasden sees that and gets the ball behind him with a brilliant shot. We’re going to the Cup Final again, for the 3rd time in 4 years. The lads start dreaming when the draw sets us as the away dream.

The season is now going into it’s finale and we are ready!

With 4 matches to go, we are still leading together with Standard. One of us will win the title, Club Brugge & Anderlecht are too far away.

Leekens, you are a stupid man. After 4 qualification matches, still no win. Are you going to ruin also this campaign?

Back to league where we struggle in our next match against Mechelen. This team has matured so much and the lads do what they have to do: get the 3 points.

We remain flawless. But so is Standard. The excitement is rising!

Our rivals of Lokeren would love to derail us, but they are simply not good enough.

Final match day! As we play the Cup Final, we play a few days earlier than Standard. Oh no! Are we stumbling just before the finish line? If Standard wins, they are champions…

A few days later Lady Fortune is on our side as Standard draw as well. WE’RE CHAMPIONS AGAIN!

The next day we go into the Cup Final with a sky-high confidence. And rightfully so, we are the away-team *chuckles*. As expected, we completely overrun them. The stats illustrate perfectly what happens during the Belgian Cup Final. It doesn’t bother me at all for the moment, we win our second Cup in 4 years!

What a great season this has been: back-to-back champions and the double!!

We conclude with the final qualification match this season for the 2004 European Championship. Again a draw for Belgium. When I look at the standings, they are even more abysmal than I thought: last place in the group, still no win and only 1 goal scored. How much credit does Leekens still have? Everybody agrees: there needs to be a new manager in charge!

And the awards go to

Just before the season’s end, there is an emergency meeting at the headquarters of the Belgian Football Association. Their decision is unanimous: something has to change, and it has to be done immediately! Stay tuned!

Enjoy your weekends. Tot volgende keer!