Last week Cercle Brugge confirmed the appointment of 40-year-old German Onur Cinel as their new T1. The change was not unexpected.
Last season saw Cercle avoid relegation to the Challenger Pro League by winning the two-legged relegation jump-off match 8โ2 on aggregate v Patro Eisden โ a situation the club should have never found themselves in. In truth, last seasonโs recruitment was not successful as the Brugge-based side struggled to adequately replace lost quality in their core. During the course of 2024/25, Cercle struggled to adapt to the demands of playing European and domestic football with a young squad lacking the quality and output to match the previous seasonโs consistency. During the season, Cercle dispensed with four T1s as they wrestled for that โclick.โ Firstly, fan favourite Miron Muslic was sacked, a sore one for the Groen en Zwart faithful, as many consider him to be the most successful T1 in the clubโs history, having led them to group stage UEFA Conference League football for the first time. Next to be despatched was Ferdinand Feldhofer, who ultimately paid the price for failing to keep them outside the relegation POs. The POs saw them led by Jimmy De Wulf (on the staff at Cercle for eleven years under a number of coaches), who was pushed aside after only 6 matches as Cercle found themselves unable to pull clear and facing the dreaded two-legged relegation encounter.
Amidst the panic of this unfolding situation, Cercleโs hierarchy decided to appoint Bernd Storck as T1 ahead of the marriage fixtures. Many eyebrows were raised (including both of mine) because Storckโs appointment was completely at odds with Cercleโs overall footballing strategy and profile. (Storck has a reputation for stabilising teams in crisis and short-term turnarounds). However, he was tactically at odds with what could be described as the house style at Cercle, namely a high-intensity, aggressive pressing game with dominant physicality and a high line. Storck even went so far as criticising this tactical approach in his press conference. Bernd has acquired the nickname of โBulldozer Storckโ in some quarters for a reason. Muslic, Feldhofer and De Wulf all fit the profile โ Storck doesnโt, so the appointment was pragmatism amidst the panic at best. Storck saved Cercle convincingly, (ironically, for the second time in his footballing career) but the square peg in a round hole remained.
Cercle is owned by AS Monaco, who in turn are owned by the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. In the post-mortem aftermath of the barrage encounter, the changes were swift and not unforeseen. The appointment of a T1 who did not fit the footballing strategy put in place by the club saw Technical Director Rembert Vromant sacked for a season of failed recruitment, instability and an ultimately, abandonment of footballing principles. Meanwhile, the owners have already begun the process of realignment by appointing 28-year-old Mexican Luciano Murchio as the new Technical Director. Murchio had already been in the house for the past four years, first as Head of Scouting and last season as Assistant Technical Director. In recent years, he has been heavily involved in the work of the A core and Jong Cercle. He understands the sporting vision, footballing strategy, and has been a part of building a successful and growing long-term culture at the club, instigated in September 2020 under then Technical Director Carlos Avina.
Enter Onur Cinel. An appointment completely in keeping with Cercleโs footballing profile. The high-intensity aggressive press is back, along with the physicality combined with power and youth. Cinelโs background has much to excite. Itโs not difficult to see why he was the outstanding candidate. The most immediately attractive note is his significant background in youth player development. He began his coaching career with the youth team at Rot-Weiss Essen in Germany for two years, before spending a further two years with TuS Heven 09 (at that stage in Germanyโs sixth tier) where he achieved promotion. This success offered him an opportunity to move to Schalke 04 in 2012. Cinelโs career really blossomed and expanded at the Gelsenkirchan giants, initially working as a U16 coach before becoming T1 with the group. Progress is swift. He became T2 with Schalkeโs Regionalliga (second) team within a year and also worked to develop the U19s under legendary Die Knappen coach Norbert Elgert. Under Elgert at Schalkeโs academy โKnappenshmiedeโ, translated as โminerโs forgeโ, young players are developed according to five pillars:
- Technique, space and time on the ball.
- Game intelligence and tactics.
- Athletic ability (inparticular speed of movement).
- Mental strength.
- Capability to meet the demands of playing for the senior side.
In March 2017, Cinel became T1 of Schalkeโs senior development team and in October 2020 he joined the coaching staff of the senior side, working under T1s Manuel Baum and Christian Gross. Cinelโs eleven-year spell at Schalke is significant because the German giant spends in excess of 3m euros a year on youth development alone. This is a serious talent factory.
In 2022, Cinel was appointed as T2 to Ralf Rangnick with the Austrian national team. A figure considered by many to be โthe godfather of gegenpressing.โ Together they transformed Austria into a hyper energetic pressing side, using numerical overloads to dominate transitions and create scoring opportunties. Cinelโs background at Schalke and latterly RB Salzsburg made him the ideal T2 for Rangnick, who was himself instrumental in shaping Red Bullโs global footballing strategy across the franchise. Rangnick is seen by many as one of the founders of the operational philosophy that Cercle chose to embed under former Technical Director Carlos Avina (the aggressive high-intensity press aligned to youth development).
Cinel becomes T1 of Austrian side FC Liefering in 2023 (Red Bull Salzsburgโs feeder club) it provides a pathway for young players to progress and gain experience before either joining Red Bull Salzsburg or other Red Bull clubs such as RB Leipzig. In 2024 Cinel has a 6 match spell as T1 of Red Bull Salzburg *senior side. He also served as T1 for the Young Bulls in the UEFA Youth League. He remained on the senior coaching staff as T2 to both Pep Lijnders and Thomas Letsch at Salzsburg.
Cinel is deeply experienced in young player development and has ambitions to be a successful T1 in his own right at a *senior level, this led to him leaving Red Bull Salzburg by mutual agreement in May 2025 to pursue his own path. Many clubs across europe showed interest, but Cercle Brugge fit both his ambitionโs and experience. Cinelโs philosophy and Cercleโs alignโฆenergetic and intense football, intelligent, joyful and dominant. All with a non negotiable emphasise on youth development at all times (integral to success in Belgian football). A key element of Cercleโs model will always be to recruit quality young talent, develop that promise, profit from sale and reinvest. Belgian clubs know their place in the footballing ecosystem. Cinel and Murchio are well placed to execute this.
Under Cinel, Cercle fans can expect a return to the tactical approaches they have become accustomed to over the past five years โ fast transitions, intense and targeted pressing, (with specific triggers), and a focus on fitness, tactical awareness and youth. The influence of Ralph Rangnick is writ large and we are seeing a renewal of his โThree Csโ at Cercleโฆ
- Concept (a specific playing style implemented *at all levels* throughout a club).
- Competence (having the right players and coaches)
- Capital (resources to embed the philosophy)
Cinel is also likely to emphasise the importance of the right levels of information and game plans for players, providing them with bespoke and clear instructions on how to execute their roles in various situations. Absolute clarity.
The realignment should serve Cercle well, as they have enjoyed success with this sporting strategy in recent years, but the details as ever will be crucial, inparticular good judgement and effective recruitment. The rewards are clear and Cinel will be aiming to replicate the success of 2023/24 with an approach that is modern Cercleโs DNAโฆdynamic, direct, youthful, vertical football.
Scott Coyne (Coyne Consultancy)
This article was originally posted on the substack โOn Belgian Fieldsโ by Belgian Football expert and consultant Scott Coyne. For weekly articles on Belgian football, subscribe here.
