Felice Mazzu was one of the hottest managerial properties at the end of the 2021/2022 season. The Belgian had just led Union St Gilloise, in their first season back in the Belgian top flight, to a title challenge with Club Brugge. Ultimately his side came up short, but their performances and never say die attitude meant that Mazzu was receiving a lot of plaudits. This led to city rivals Anderlecht bringing the former Genk and Charleroi man across the city to Lotto Park.
Unfortunately, despite his success last season, the hero of Union’s stock began to drop. Anderlecht struggled with the departure of Vincent Kompany and Mazzu being given a side that was not built for his style of play. In the end, a separation was inevitable and Mazzu was let go by Anderlecht in October. He managed just 14 league games, winning five drawing one and losing eight.
Yet just a month later he was back in management. Charleroi parted company with Ed Still and decided to bring back their former boss. In a repeat of his own career history, it was at Charleroi that Mazzu had been successful between 2013 and 2019, leading to him joining Genk. He only managed 15 games at Genk, one more than at Anderlecht, before going to rebuild his career at Union.
Now, he is once again becoming a hero at Charleroi. Under Mazzu, the side have gone from relegation battlers to in pole position to finish in the top eight and the play-offs. We have also seen the return of Mazzu-time, with the Zebras winning a number of games deep into injury time. In a cruel twist of fate for Anderlecht, Mazzu’s resurgence with Charleroi could cost them a place in the play-offs.
GBeNeFNÂ |Â Ben Jackson
