Latest news with #Anderlecht
The National
an hour ago
- Sport
- The National
Philippe Clement names what was 'lacking' at Rangers
Gers finally have a permanent successor to the Belgian after Barry Ferguson stepped in during their hour of need after his sacking. Martin is the man they've gone for over Davide Ancelotti and the former Southampton boss was introduced as the new head coach this morning. Clement has been linked with other jobs - such as Anderlecht and Sparta Prague - since leaving Ibrox but remains out of work for now. But he has been able to reflect on his time in Glasgow and assess what the club needs going forward now they have their new man in place. Read more: Stability is the key word for him after such an up-and-down time of it during his spell and even before. Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said: "A lot of things have changed in the club the last few years, over and over again. "The main thing that's necessary at the club is that the club has stability to work in a good way with the players, with the staff, to have a consistent story. "I think that's the big part in the club that has been lacking for years already. "I hope the new owners can bring that for the club, for the manager and the players."
Scottish Sun
5 days ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Ex-Rangers boss Philippe Clement ‘REJECTS manager job in major turn of events'
PHILIPPE CLEMENT has reportedly turned down an approach from a European club to be their new manager - despite reports suggesting his appointment was a done deal. We told you earlier how the axed Rangers gaffer was the leading contender to take over as the boss of Sparta Prague. Advertisement 2 Philippe Clement is still without a manager after four months Credit: Willie Vass 2 He looked set to make his return to the dugout Credit: Willie Vass Reports from Czechia claimed Clement, 51, had been identified as the board's number one choice to replace Lars Friis, who was shown the door on May 15 after their cup final defeat to Olomouc. Sparta chiefs had been working down a shortlist of potential managers, with the former Monaco and Club Brugge head coach leading the pack. It was suggested an official announcement on his appointment would be made imminently. However, latest reports coming out of the country now state that Clement will NOT be named their new manager at this stage. Advertisement It's being reported by iSport that Clement has in actual fact rejected an offer from the club in a bizarre turn of events. Sparta have now reportedly turned their attention to Danish manager Bo Svensson, who was most recently the boss of Union Berlin. Clement's future in the game remains up in the air as he is still without a team since he was sacked by Rangers in February. The Belgian has been linked with a couple of jobs since his Ibrox dismissal four months ago. Advertisement He was initially tipped to be the next manager of the Belgium national team before he was even given the boot in Scotland. That ship had sailed but it was then reported in Belgium this month that he could be heading back to his homeland after all - as the new manager of Anderlecht. Rangers fans react as 49ers takeover completed That was, however, when current boss Besnik Hasi was meant to be on his way out of the dugout after a disappointing season. As things stand though Anderlecht chiefs have decided to stick by him for another campaign. Advertisement Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
The National
28-05-2025
- Business
- The National
Can Tony Bloom do a Union Saint-Gilloise with Hearts and end duopoly?
'We had already had our fair share of owners coming in to clubs from overseas and trying to be successful in different ways by then,' said Wim Conings, a football journalist with the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper who specialises in finance. 'So I guess at first we were quite sceptical about it all. In the first year they were back up in the top division after winning promotion, they challenged for the title. But even then people thought, 'It will just be a one off. Let's see how they get on next season'.' The doubters, though, have sat up and taken notice since and been proved emphatically wrong. RUSG, as they are known for short, clinched the Pro League title amid scenes of mass rejoicing on Sunday when they defeated Gent 3-1 at home in their final game. It was the first time in no fewer than 90 years that they had been crowned national champions. Read more: Bloom is only a minority shareholder in the Brussels outfit now. The Englishman reduced his stake when they and Brighton both qualified to play in Europe two years ago to ensure compliance with strict UEFA multi-club ownership rules. He has, however, very much been the driving force behind their remarkable rise to prominence after decades in the doldrums. His substantial investment and insistence on the use of data analytics to identify potential signing targets has underpinned their success both on the park and off it. So will Hearts - whose fans voted overwhelmingly, it was revealed on Monday night, in favour of giving him a 29 per cent 'non-voting' shareholding in the Tynecastle club in return for a £9.86m cash injection - be transformed into giant killers in the coming seasons with him exerting an influence in the background? Celtic and Rangers supporters are not exactly quaking in their boots at the prospect of the Gorgie men, who have just finished a lowly seventh in the William Hill Premiership, ending their heroes' 40 year duopoly of the Scottish title during the 2025/26 campaign. The Parkhead and Ibrox giants had colossal revenues of £88m and £124m respectively in the last financial year. Their Edinburgh rivals, meanwhile, banked just £20m in comparison. It will take more than a few shrewd deals in the transfer market to bridge that gap. Won't it? (Image: Steven Paston) Conings is not so sure. 'I'm very intrigued by the way that they work, by how they have disrupted our natural order in Belgium and challenged the clubs who have traditionally enjoyed a lot of success, the likes of Club Brugge, Anderlecht, Genk and Standard Liege,' he said. 'Last season RUSG only spent €20m on wages. That should translate to seventh place in the league. Club Brugge, who are the biggest club in the country both sporting-wise and financially, were operating with more than four times as much as that, over €80m in terms of wages. 'Their crowds are also far smaller. This season they have had an average attendance of around 8,000 fans in their Joseph Marien Stadium. Club Brugge and Anderlecht will usually have between 25,000 and 30,000 people at their grounds. 'Their turnover is also far smaller. A couple of years ago, they were bringing in around €30m a year. Last year they got that up to €70m because they had some big outgoing transfers. But Club Brugge still had an income of €170m. Somehow, they outperformed everyone this season and still made the biggest profit in the league at the same time. 'The data from StarLizard/Jamestown Analytics that they use makes it very easy for RUSG to identify good players in leagues that our other top teams aren't looking at for reinforcements.' Read more: Stijn Joris, who is the Royal Union Saint-Gilloise correspondent for Het Nieuwsblad, explains how their canny dealings in the transfer market have helped them to become the dominant team in Belgium as well as a formidable force in Europe and has enabled them to remain firmly in the black to boot. 'They look for players in the €250,000 to €1.5m price range,' he said. 'But when it comes to strikers they are prepared to pay more. They have bought a few forwards for €4m and last year they bought the Israeli winger Anan Khalaily in from Maccabi Haifa for a club record €6m. 'He was an exceptional talent. A lot of clubs were interested in him and they were convinced he could be a big thing. There are a lot of bigger clubs who are interested in him now. He will leave for a big profit. 'They have been in the top league for four seasons and they have made €40m profit from transfers in that time. Mohamed Amoura, the Algerian striker who is on loan at Wolfsburg in Germany with an obligation to buy, will be sold for €15m this summer. 'Getting into the Champions League could convince some of their players to stay, but this will be the best summer for them transfer wise. But the way they operate is simple. Players are sold after one good season and replaced. 'They are really looking for undervalued players. They are looking for a player who is not playing every game, but has some nice statistics in the games he played. Or they are looking for players who play in Estonia or in Lithuania. They find somebody with special statistics and say, 'We need to bring him in'. 'They signed the Canadian player Promise David, their top scorer this season, from Nomme Kalju in Estonia last year for €400,000. He won't be sold for any less than €10m, maybe even €15m. They just keep on doing it.' (Image: Craig Foy - SNS Group) Hearts' early involvement with Jamestown Analytics has hardly sent shockwaves through the Scottish game. The surprise appointment of Neil Critchley as manager was heavily influenced by their data and he was sacked after six months in charge. But Conings stressed that it took time for the new way of working to produce results at RUSG too. 'After Bloom and his co-investor Alex Muzio took over in 2018, things didn't work out so well despite the data they had available,' he said. 'So Muzio said, 'We don't just have to find players with the right qualities, we have to find the right human beings'. That was something he felt they had overlooked in the first couple of years. 'After their first season they were still in the Second Division, were operating at a loss, and weren't outperforming their budgets. But they hired somebody to take a look at the profiles of players as human beings. What kind of people are they? How do they interact in a group? That was something that previously was lacking. That made a real difference. Read more: 'This is the fourth year in a row that they have done well. I was talking to Muzio at the Pro League awards last night and he recalled how everyone had said they would only challenge for a year when they started out. People underestimate them, underestimate how strong they actually are. 'In the year that they got promoted to the Pro League, they changed to a 3-5-2 formation. They have stuck with that ever since. Their tactics are very straightforward. They don't very often have more than 50 per cent possession, but they play with a very intense, aggressive press. When they have the ball, they go straight to the goal. 'That is what they have been doing for the past five years and they have changed coaches every year. They buy players to play in a 3-5-2 and find coaches who like to play that way. It has worked for them. Muzio told me that, according to the data he has right now, RUSG would be in the top 24 of the Champions League with their current squad.' Both Conings and Joris stopped short of predicting that Hearts can become the first club from outside Glasgow to win the Scottish title since Aberdeen did so 1985 and the first Tynecastle side to be crowned champions since 1960 due to their association with Bloom. But they both envisage exciting times ahead. 'Jamestown Analytics have by now an impressive track record now,' said the former. 'Look at the clubs they have been working for on a consultancy basis. Como in Italy, for instance, also recently enjoyed a promotion after outperforming their budget. This is definitely good news for Hearts.' The latter said, 'The level of the Scottish top flight is similar to the league in Belgium, possibly a little lower. The players they scout for Union can also be brought in to Hearts. It will be beneficial for Hearts in the long run, no doubt about it. They should be excited about what lies ahead.'
The Herald Scotland
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Can Tony Bloom do a Union Saint-Gilloise with Hearts and end duopoly?
'So I guess at first we were quite sceptical about it all. In the first year they were back up in the top division after winning promotion, they challenged for the title. But even then people thought, 'It will just be a one off. Let's see how they get on next season'.' The doubters, though, have sat up and taken notice since and been proved emphatically wrong. RUSG, as they are known for short, clinched the Pro League title amid scenes of mass rejoicing on Sunday when they defeated Gent 3-1 at home in their final game. It was the first time in no fewer than 90 years that they had been crowned national champions. Read more: Bloom is only a minority shareholder in the Brussels outfit now. The Englishman reduced his stake when they and Brighton both qualified to play in Europe two years ago to ensure compliance with strict UEFA multi-club ownership rules. He has, however, very much been the driving force behind their remarkable rise to prominence after decades in the doldrums. His substantial investment and insistence on the use of data analytics to identify potential signing targets has underpinned their success both on the park and off it. So will Hearts - whose fans voted overwhelmingly, it was revealed on Monday night, in favour of giving him a 29 per cent 'non-voting' shareholding in the Tynecastle club in return for a £9.86m cash injection - be transformed into giant killers in the coming seasons with him exerting an influence in the background? Celtic and Rangers supporters are not exactly quaking in their boots at the prospect of the Gorgie men, who have just finished a lowly seventh in the William Hill Premiership, ending their heroes' 40 year duopoly of the Scottish title during the 2024/25 campaign. The Parkhead and Ibrox giants had colossal revenues of £88m and £124m respectively in the last financial year. Their Edinburgh rivals, meanwhile, banked just £20m in comparison. It will take more than a few shrewd deals in the transfer market to bridge that gap. Won't it? (Image: Steven Paston) Conings is not so sure. 'I'm very intrigued by the way that they work, by how they have disrupted our natural order in Belgium and challenged the clubs who have traditionally enjoyed a lot of success, the likes of Club Brugge, Anderlecht, Genk and Standard Liege,' he said. 'Last season RUSG only spent €20m on wages. That should translate to seventh place in the league. Club Brugge, who are the biggest club in the country both sporting-wise and financially, were operating with more than four times as much as that, over €80m in terms of wages. 'Their crowds are also far smaller. This season they have had an average attendance of around 8,000 fans in their Joseph Marien Stadium. Club Brugge and Anderlecht will usually have between 25,000 and 30,000 people at their grounds. 'Their turnover is also far smaller. A couple of years ago, they were bringing in around €30m a year. Last year they got that up to €70m because they had some big outgoing transfers. But Club Brugge still had an income of €170m. Somehow, they outperformed everyone this season and still made the biggest profit in the league at the same time. 'The data from StarLizard/Jamestown Analytics that they use makes it very easy for RUSG to identify good players in leagues that our other top teams aren't looking at for reinforcements.' Read more: Stijn Joris, who is the Royal Union Saint-Gilloise correspondent for Het Nieuwsblad, explains how their canny dealings in the transfer market have helped them to become the dominant team in Belgium as well as a formidable force in Europe and has enabled them to remain firmly in the black to boot. 'They look for players in the €250,000 to €1.5m price range,' he said. 'But when it comes to strikers they are prepared to pay more. They have bought a few forwards for €4m and last year they bought the Israeli winger Anan Khalaily in from Maccabi Haifa for a club record €6m. 'He was an exceptional talent. A lot of clubs were interested in him and they were convinced he could be a big thing. There are a lot of bigger clubs who are interested in him now. He will leave for a big profit. 'They have been in the top league for four seasons and they have made €40m profit from transfers in that time. Mohamed Amoura, the Algerian striker who is on loan at Wolfsburg in Germany with an obligation to buy, will be sold for €15m this summer. 'Getting into the Champions League could convince some of their players to stay, but this will be the best summer for them transfer wise. But the way they operate is simple. Players are sold after one good season and replaced. 'They are really looking for undervalued players. They are looking for a player who is not playing every game, but has some nice statistics in the games he played. Or they are looking for players who play in Estonia or in Lithuania. They find somebody with special statistics and say, 'We need to bring him in'. 'They signed the Canadian player Promise David, their top scorer this season, from Nomme Kalju in Estonia last year for €400,000. He won't be sold for any less than €10m, maybe even €15m. They just keep on doing it.' (Image: Craig Foy - SNS Group) Hearts' early involvement with Jamestown Analytics has hardly sent shockwaves through the Scottish game. The surprise appointment of Neil Critchley as manager was heavily influenced by their data and he was sacked after six months in charge. But Conings stressed that it took time for the new way of working to produce results at RUSG too. 'After Bloom and his co-investor Alex Musio took over in 2018, things didn't work out so well despite the data they had available,' he said. 'So Muzio said, 'We don't just have to find players with the right qualities, we have to find the right human beings'. That was something he felt they had overlooked in the first couple of years. 'After their first season they were still in the Second Division, were operating at a loss, and weren't outperforming their budgets. But they hired somebody to take a look at the profiles of players as human beings. What kind of people are they? How do they interact in a group? That was something that previously was lacking. That made a real difference. Read more: 'This is the fourth year in a row that they have done well. I was talking to Muzio at the Pro League awards last night and he recalled how everyone had said they would only challenge for a year when they started out. People underestimate them, underestimate how strong they actually are. 'In the year that they got promoted to the Pro League, they changed to a 3-5-2 formation. They have stuck with that ever since. Their tactics are very straightforward. They don't very often have more than 50 per cent possession, but they play with a very intense, aggressive press. When they have the ball, they go straight to the goal. 'That is what they have been doing for the past five years and they have changed coaches every year. They buy players to play in a 3-5-2 and find coaches who like to play that way. It has worked for them. Muzio told me that, according to the data he has right now, RUSG would be in the top 24 of the Champions League with their current squad.' Both Conings and Joris stopped short of predicting that Hearts can become the first club from outside Glasgow to win the Scottish title since Aberdeen did so 1985 and the first Tynecastle side to be crowned champions since 1960 due to their association with Bloom. But they both envisage exciting times ahead. 'Jamestown Analytics have by now an impressive track record now,' said the former. 'Look at the clubs they have been working for on a consultancy basis. Como in Italy, for instance, also recently enjoyed a promotion after outperforming their budget. This is definitely good news for Hearts.' The latter said, 'The level of the Scottish top flight is similar to the league in Belgium, possibly a little lower. The players they scout for Union can also be brought in to Hearts. It will be beneficial for Hearts in the long run, no doubt about it. They should be excited about what lies ahead.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Belgium bugs stadium to spy on Chinese tech bosses
Belgian security services bugged a football stadium in a probe into alleged corruption involving Huawei and the European Parliament. Listening devices were placed in a corporate box being used by the Chinese tech giant to entertain MEPs at Lotto Park, the home of RSC Anderlecht. Investigators also listened to conversations by one of Huawei's top lobbyists in his car as part of the sprawling investigation. To date, the probe has seen more than 20 premises raided and requests lodged for the immunity of four MEPs to be lifted as investigators look into suspected corruption within the EU Parliament. When the investigation was first revealed to the public in March, the Belgian authorities said 'regular invitations to football matches' were being used by lobbyists linked to Huawei to secure favourable political statements. The Chinese state-backed tech firm rented a corporate box at Anderlecht's stadium for the 2024/2025 season, the Politico news website reported. The Belgian Pro League's most successful-ever side hosted clubs like Porto and Fenerbahce this season in the Europa League, Europe's second-tier competition. Belgian authorities are looking into whether the private box was used as part of an attempt to schmooze MEPs, which could be later used to further Huawei's position in EU policymaking. Two of the four MEPs for whom investigators have requested their parliamentary immunity to be lifted have admitted to attending football matches at Anderlecht. Daniel Attard, a Maltese socialist, and Nikola Minchev, a Bulgarian liberal, said they didn't know they'd been invited by Huawei in separate statements. 'I was not made aware that the invitation originated from any company, or that it involved a corporate box,' said Mr Attard, after watching Anderlecht's Europa League clash with Hungarian side Ferencváros in February 2024. 'I was simply informed by my assistant that a friend of his had tickets to the match and asked whether I would be interested in accompanying him and his son,' he added, in the statement published on Facebook. Mr Minchev said his parliamentary assistant told him a 'friend and neighbour' had invited him to watch a fixture against Ludogrets, from his native Bulgaria, in October 2024. Both MEPs have strongly denied any wrongdoing and have not been charged by the authorities. Requests were also lodged for the immunity of Fulvio Martusciello and Salvatore De Meo, two Italians from the centre-right European People's Party, to be lifted. They also have not been charged and deny any wrongdoing. The European Parliament has desperately tried to clamp down on lobbying efforts within its institution after several scandals in recent years. Several high-profile MEPs and former MEPs, including a vice president of the Parliament, were arrested in a probe into the 'Qatargate' scandal, where the Gulf nation was accused of using cash handouts to seek favourable decisions on visas and flight rules. Officials have since restricted the movement of lobbyists inside the Parliament's Brussels and Strasbourg seats in hope of deterring meetings with MEPs. MEPs can technically accept gifts of up to €150 in value but must declare them on a register of interests, meaning there is a fine line between lobbying and entertaining. Huawei and the Belgian prosecutor's office have been approached for comment on the latest allegations involving its box at Anderlecht. A spokesman for the football club said it had 'no intention to renew' its contract with the tech firm, which expires at the end of the season. They also said they had received no prior warning from the Belgian authorities regarding the bugging of the box. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
