This just in

Despite the win against KV Kortrijk, Club Brugge had all sorts of worries on Sunday evening. Everyone was set back by Stenman's grave injury. "That was a serious blow, not in the least for Fredrik himself," Mannaert knows. "He worked so hard to make it after the Winter's break. And he made it too, ... and how! Stenman was incontournable. So it's even worse if you concede so bad an injury again. I had him on the phone earlier today, and he sounded very down on the one hand, but also very willing to fight on the other. He said he will rise above this. He noticed how the crowd backed him, even in those painful moments.“

Stenman says no one's to blame. From his sickbed in an Antwerp hospital, he indicated that no one could have foreseen this. Not even the medical staff. "From the feedback by the medical staff, no particular risk was revealed. Any other situation would have kept Fredrik off the pitch. Our medical team is doing some great work. But these kinds of things are part of top sports. And also, if it can stimulate Fredrik.. van Nistelrooij went through his knee twice, but managed to make a huge career nonetheless.»

But for Club Brugge, Stenman out is a serious blow. Fortunately, a left footed player only recently joined with Jordi. And there are some other alternatives: "Our selection also features De Jonghe, Vansteenkiste, Hogli and later on even Blondel. We also played some excellent game before the New Year with them" the General Manager said.

Trainer Christoph Daum will be reshuffling his team against Hannover 96. He seemed to have lost some of his fighting spirit at the press conference last Sunday. The German asked out loud whether Club is not playing Russian roulette by wanting to continue on in the Europa League.
Daum wondered whehter focusing on the league only would be wiser. "You have to frame his remark", Vincent Mannaert continued."Emotions run high, after a difficult week. That's understandable. He wanted to indicate that his selection, with all these injuries, has its limitations. But I know our coach, he's a true winner. And the players will also want to go for it against Hannover, better be sure about it. Quite a challenge lies there for everyone. I'm not worried.»

Plenty of worries, however, when the pitch at Jan Breydel comes to the table. "That's something that's on our minds, yes." by the end of January, Club decided it was high time to take on the pitch, but this hasn't happened so far, leading to lots of frustration in players, coaches and the board. Maintaining a first division pitch takes a whole different approach than the average communal sports pitches. "The people at the City Services are doing all they can, but foreign teams have a full time person to take care of the grounds.  We also want that, but we are stuck to the fact that there are three parties in this equation." Club tried to take on the ground itself, but it's obvious that it doesn't want to carry the cost all by itself. In the meantime, the club has decided to go for a new pitch anyhow, at its own costs. "An investment done by Club alone. The City of Bruges and Cercle both announced that they don't wish to cover the costs. So there are two options: do nothing or take your responsibility. We opted for the second.”

The City of Bruges still has to approve of this, of course. But Vincent Mannaert concludes: "Club is going 100% for a new pitch and qualification."