Just a few months ago, Miron Muslic was the toast of Cercle Brugge fans. The Austrian head coach had guided the side to the top six and qualified for European football. However, after a defeat to bottom side Beerschot on Sunday afternoon, Muslic has been sacked by the club.
Muslic took over in September 2022, having been brought in as an assistant to Dominik Thalhammer. He managed over 100 games for the side and helped Cercle go from relegation battlers to European qualification. His side was characterised by their youth, boasting the youngest side in the Belgian Pro League. He deployed a system that relied on the high press and a direct style of play that was incredibly effective.
However, balancing both European and domestic football has been a struggle for Cercle this season. With the domestic campaign going badly, the club denied Muslic the opportunity to bring some key players to a European game in Iceland, which the side subsequently lost. This caused frustration amongst both head coach and the fans. The side were then 2-0 up against Beerschot on Sunday, before going down to 10 men and losing 3-2. This was the last straw for the board who decided to end their collaboration with Muslic.
In fairness to Muslic, he could well argue that the sides transfer business in the summer did not set them up to balance both European and domestic football. In the continental competition Cercle have gone well outside of the defeat in Iceland and are well placed to qualify for the next round.
This will now be without Muslic, who will probably not find it too difficult to find a new job after the work he has done over the past few seasons.
GBeNeFNÂ |Â Ben Jackson
