Belgian Pro League Season Review: Kortrijk
Overview:
Kortrijk had been flirting with relegation for two seasons now, and it was unlucky number three as they finally succumbed to the inevitable fall into the Challenger Pro League. The side went through three managers this season, with Bernd Storck almost managing the impossible and keeping them in the league. However, he was unable to sustain their top flight status and after many years they are back in the Belgian second tier.
Player of the Season: Abdelkahar Kadri
The third Algerian in the Pro League to win one of the player of the season awards from us, Kadri will certainly leave the club this summer. The 24-year-old scored six goals and provided eight assists in 31 games, bettering his numbers from last season. Another of the Paradou AC production line, Kadri should have plenty of suitors this summer.
Young Player of the Season: Nayel Mehssatou
Chilean international midfielder Mehssatou turned 22 this season and looks destined to avoid playing in the Challenger Pro League next season. Once a full-back, Mehssatou has developed into a central midfielder and grabbed four goals and two assists in 37 games. His versatility should attract a number of sides from aboard and within Belgium.
Summer needs:
Putting together a side capable of coming straight back up. Promotion to the Pro League is set to get harder in the future, and next season could be the best chance sides will have to do so. They have already made positive steps with bringing in Michiel Jonckheere as the head coach for next season. Now, he just needs a capable playing squad.
Grade: D
GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson
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New York Times
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‘No superstars' and the power of anxiety: How McLaren is building the next F1 dynasty
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The 2024 constructors' title win came after a remarkable turnaround both on and off the track for McLaren, led by Brown and team principal Andrea Stella. Retaining that championship already appears inevitable as we sit here in F1's summer hiatus, given the current 299-point buffer to second-place Ferrari. The greater unknown is which McLaren driver, Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, will win his first F1 crown in 2025. They're separated by just eight points with 10 races to go. The team itself isn't ruling out its rivals (reigning champion Max Verstappen sits 97 points behind Piastri, with over 250 points still available) but, barring a shock turnaround, McLaren will have its first drivers' champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008. The good times have returned. But to Brown and his leadership team, this isn't about building an organization that can win one championship; it's about creating a dynasty and staving off future defeat for as long as possible. 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The one thing Brown and his leadership team did not force was change. There was trust in McLaren's new infrastructure, such as its wind tunnel, that was coming online thanks to fresh investment. This was aimed at enabling the team to compete with better-resourced rivals. But crucially, there was also trust in the workforce at the team headquarters in Woking, on London's southwestern outskirts. Some tweaks, not a total overhaul, in McLaren's technical leadership and structure were viewed as the key to progress. 'We had a thousand people. I changed three,' Brown said. 'So, the same 997 that gave us the car at the beginning of 2023 are the same 997 people that gave us the car that just won the world championship. I changed three. Yes, I added (chief designer) Rob Marshall. But 98 percent of the same racing team that gave us the ninth-place car gave us the championship car. That's the power of teamwork and culture.' 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Be it Manny Fernandez's slack pass to Nasser Djiga, Bailey Rice's half-hearted attempts to stop Steven Buchanan from scampering into the box or Max Aaron's slap-stick clearance which skelped off Joe Rothwell's coupon before trundling over the line, it was a mess from start to finish. That produced the first murmurs of a grumble but thankfully for Martin, there was no repeat of the deafening jeers which swept round the place after last week's Dundee draw as Fernandez marked his own debut with a goal. If the giant centre-back was any more laid back he'd be horizontal and there were moments where the crowd had to give him a rocket. He might not look the kind of dependable centre-half Rangers could really do with right now but the £2.5million recruit from Peterborough is certainly a threat from set-pieces, as proved when he nodded home from Joe Rothwell's free-kick to restore the hosts' lead. 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