OH Leuven have brought in Felice Mazzu as their new head coach following the surprise departure of David Hubert to league leaders Union St Gilloise. Since leaving Union himself, Mazzu has struggled to recreate the magic that he had once enjoyed with the Brussels based side. Anderlecht, Charleroi and Sint Truiden have all been added to his CV since then, but none of those stand out. Surely OH Leuven is the last chance that the head coach has to prove that he can still be effective at the highest level of Belgian football.
It certainly wonโt be an easy job. Despite a decent infrastructure and some talented players in the squad, no one seems to have been able to work out how to bring success to OH Leuven. The club is an enigma, a rubix cube of issues that no one seems to be able to solve. Can Mazzu, despite his recent struggles, be the one that finally twists the side into the correct form? It seems unlikely, and suggests another change of direction for a side that struggles to have any real identity.
There has been little young talent developed at OH Leuven, outside of Ezechial Banzuzi, yet in the summer they opted to go for a young Belgian head coach in David Hubert. This appeared to be a shift from their usual hires of experienced heads who had been around a bit. While it appeared that the match between Hubert and OH Leuven was not one that would bring success overnight, the switch back to the regular mode of operation with Mazzu was pretty rapid. Timmy Simmons was one name being floated about, a hire that would have been closer to the vision they had with Mazzu. Simmons had done well at Westerlo last season and was unfortunate to be sacked. He had done even better with Dender the year before when he got them promoted. He may feel hard done by to lose out to Mazzu, who failed with Sint Truiden and struggled with Charleroi. Alternatively, Simmons may well feel that he has dodged a bullet in joining a club without clear direction.
On a personal level, Mazzu has to get this one right. If he has any ambitions of saving his reputation, which had been elevated to the highest level during his time at Union, then turning the slowly sinking ship in Leuven around will help regain some of that reputation. For many, his time at Union was a mere blip in what they had seen prior to his time in Brussels when he struggled with Genk.
Mazzu can certainly take some comfort in how OH Leuven have played since Hubert departed. They have shown fight, and were unlucky to lose out to Club Brugge at home. Against KV Mechelen they rescued a point late on. However, Mazzu must also hope that he has the answers to the sides lack of goals. There are strikers in the squad, but none of them are firing. During his time at Union, Mazzuโs side were known for being enterprising and looking to score. If he can bring some enterprising spirit to OH Leuven, they will at least be more entertaining to watch. Hopefully for Mazzuโs sake, this entertainment will coincide with an upturn in form.
His first task will be a cup match against struggling second division side RFC Seraing before a home match against third placed Gent on Sunday afternoon. With just five points separating OH Leuven from 12th spot, there is still plenty of time for Mazzu and the team to turn this season around. Whether Mazzu is the one who can do this remains to be seen. If not, the side may well be looking for another head coach in a few months time.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
