How Chris Coleman made a dream start in the country where he still causes nightmares

Luke James, Leuven

Two coaches considered to be the future of Belgian football management had been tipped to become the new coach of OH Leuven – instead the club chose a ghost of their country’s sporting past.

“Torturer of the Red Devils named as Leuven coach” read the headline of the report by national broadcaster RTBF on the appointment earlier this month of Chris Coleman by the struggling Pro League side, ahead of two former Belgian internationals Karel Geraerts and Steven Defour.

If Coleman was hoping locals’ memories of that night in Lille would slowly begin to fade again as he settled into his new job, the World Cup qualifying draw on the eve of his first home game in charge did him no favours.

Redemption

But on Saturday night the Welshman began what could be a redemption arc to match any character in the comic books for which Belgium is famous, bringing joy to fans who remember him as the mastermind of a moment of national trauma by guiding Leuven to their first win in seven weeks.

Celebrating with the fans (and a giant squirrel). Chris Coleman making Belgian football fans happy. Who’d have thought it pic.twitter.com/ZlT2Tpxpci

— Luke James (@LukeEJames2) December 14, 2024

“To get that win was important because with every game that passed, and you don’t do it, the pressure gets bigger,” said Coleman after a 1-0 win over Charleroi. “So today was a big test for us. It was about the points and not so much the performance. It’s a big, big three points.”

While Leuven is a small city better known for being the home of Stella Artois lager than stellar football, expectations have been raised since the club was bought in 2017 by the family of Thai billionaires which helped Leicester City to an unlikely Premier League title.

Speaking to Nation.Cymru at the post-match press conference, Coleman said: “It’s a good club. The city’s amazing. The people are fantastic. And I don’t have any excuses.”

“Coaches nowadays, you don’t get a season to build. You don’t get two transfer windows to build a team. That’s just the way it is.

“We’ve got a really good training ground, we’ve got good people, we’ve got good financial backing and we’ve got a good team. So if I get it wrong, what can I say.”

First impression

Coleman has certainly made a good first impression since arriving last week after an unhappy few months in Cyprus with AEL Limassol.

Emiel Carter, a journalist covering Leuven for Flemish daily newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, said: “Usually when there is the announcement of a new coach in Leuven, there’s not much interest from the national papers or television. But for him there was.

“He’s a confident man and a charismatic man. If he can bring this to the team then he will do very well. The one caveat we have is that he’s a very British coach. He doesn’t seem like a big tactician. Maybe this is not what the team needs.”

When it comes to tactics, Coleman’s approach could hardly be more different from that of his predecessor. The former Swansea City and Wales centre-back is taking over from former Barcelona midfielder Óscar García, who was fired last month because of a failure to turn possession into goals.

Leuven were seen as technically gifted but lacking confidence and killer instinct. Only bottom of the table Beerschot have spent more time playing in their own third of the pitch this season.

It was a familiar story in Coleman’s first official game in charge last week, when Leuven were lucky to snatch a point at the death away against Standard Liege despite having had 66% possession.

“My criticism of our boys is that we look really good sometimes, but we don’t have that killer instinct,” he said. “We’re not street smart in situations where we need to kill a situation. We’re a little bit naive. It’s game intelligence.”

After his first full week in charge, Leuven were noticeably more direct against Charleroi. Vertical balls and driving runs saw his side create three early chances. Although they weren’t taken, it was promising enough for fans to start singing Don’t Take Me Home, which has also become a popular terrace chant on the continent since Euro 2016.

“Everybody now concentrates on six, seven hundred passes in a game,” added Coleman. “Overloads here, there. There’s the ugly jobs in football that still need to be done. It doesn’t have to look good to be good.

“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about us going route one every time, from back to front. I don’t believe in that. I want us to try and build but I don’t want us to just do it for the sake of it. There has to be something at the end of it.”

That philosophy wasn’t always popular in Wales. Coleman was memorably criticised for saying “we have to earn the right to play” following a defeat against Belgium in 2012. But there seems to be an appetite for it among Leuven fans frustrated with fruitless tiki-taka.

“Under the previous trainer we played well, we had a lot of ball possession but there were not a lot of chances,” said Frank, a supporter in one of the stadium’s bars. “We need to go more direct. The feeling I have is that the supporters are behind him and hope he’s going to change some things.”

Too nice

Another common complaint among supporters is that this young Leuven team is too nice. They hope Coleman can bring some Welsh fire to their game.

“With the previous trainer they didn’t play with the heart,” said Simon, one of a group of young fans having a pre-match drink. “When I saw Wales playing, they always played with their heart. I hope we will do the same.”

“I saw the movie about Wales on Netflix and people there were crying when he left. When you can do that, I think it means he’s a good human too and that’s important as a coach.”

Another supporter, Mout, said: “I remembered him from 2016. Sadly we got kicked out by him but it’s OK. We need more passion. It hasn’t been here for the last three years.”

While Coleman might have kicked every ball while managing his country (“don’t you cross that fucking ball, Christopher!”), he was noticeably restrained on the sideline last night.

Asked after the game by the local media if that was a conscious decision, Coleman replied: “I just arrived and the last thing our players need is me barking and shouting and screaming. What am I going to achieve?”

“I’m not in my own country. I’m in someone else’s country. I can’t expect everybody to change what they are for me. I have to change.” Although he cautioned: “You can’t do it forever. I am what I am at the end of the day.”

📸 Big win yesterday! #OHLCHA pic.twitter.com/R3bVieHXbu

— OH Leuven (@OHLeuven) December 15, 2024

Coleman’s efforts to stay calm were severely tested in the later stages of the first-half when Charleroi began to dominate and hit the crossbar twice. “I wanted the first half to finish quickly because we were very much on the back foot,” he admitted.

Rather than giving his new players the hairdryer treatment, he chose to put an arm round them. “The players are human beings, it’s not FIFA,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t need more criticism from us, they need support, some encouragement.”

That paid off in the 61st minute when Ignace N’Dri, a player who has spoken about struggling with confidence under previous coaches, curled a low shot into the bottom from 25 yards.

A penalty save by Leuven’s goalkeeper and two red cards given to Charleroi players in the closing stages helped Leuven secure their first win since October 26.

Celebrations

After initially leaving his players to take the fans’ applause, Coleman is beckoned forward to lead the celebrations with Leuven’s ultras.

“The main thing is to connect with the supporters, which he did today,” said Bert, one of the many fans returning home from the Den Dreef stadium by bicycle. “It’s a good start. When he saves us this season, he can build for next season. I think the potential of this team is big.”

Coleman isn’t a coach who is afraid to have a dream. But, despite a strong start, he is cautious when it comes to thinking about anything other than surviving in an “unforgiving” league.

“It’s a good standard here and I’ve been around the world so I think I’m in a good place to judge that,” he said. “Right now I’m thinking about making sure we’re in a safe place. Then we can build again.

“We’ve got to be fighting for something different and that’s to look above us and to challenge those teams. We’re not there yet. We won today and that’s great and I want everyone to enjoy that but there’s a lot of work ahead of us.”