Every year football sees a fairytale story. Last season it was the Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise who won the regular season. Their rise was the stuff dreams are made of, as the club had only been promoted to the top league the year before after 49 years. However, winning the league meant that the big boys started to sniff around, and the first man to leave was Felice Mazzu, their manager of two years, had masterminded their promotion and the regular season win. So, in came Karel Geraerts, a former Belgian international who also played for Club Brugge and Standard Liege who had served as Union SG’s assistant manager for the last three years.
Any club like Union SG, which witness such a dramatic rise, usually faster in the next season. The club, though, was determined to ensure their consistency. And it is here that the incredible tactics of Karel Geraerts have helped them launch another for the title.
As of writing this article, Union SG are second in the regular season league, three points shy of Genk. In addition, they are also in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, where they will face German giants Bayer Leverkusen. So, who is Karel Geraerts, and how good is he?
Who is Karel Geraerts
Karel Geraerts is a product of Club Brugge, where he played for four years but could only make a handful of appearances. He was then sent on loan to Lokeren before being sold to Standard Liege. Playing as a central midfielder, Geraerts impressed, scoring five goals and providing as many assists in 32 matches in the league. This earned him a call-up to the national squad.
His form dropped the following season massively as he only scored two goals and provided two assists, but he came back strongly the year after with eight strikes and three assists to his name.
This earned him a transfer back to his previous club Club Brugge where he stayed for the next four years scoring 18 goals and providing 15 assists. However, before the start of the 2011-12 season, Geraerts was told that the club were ready to move beyond him.
And thus, he would join Oud-Heverlee Leuven, a side which has just won promotion to the league. His playing career would go on for another five years before ending at Charleroi.
Following retirement, Geraerts immediately started his managerial career. After serving as a sports coordinator for KV Oostende, he joined Union SG, where he served as an assistant manager to Thomas Christiansen and Felice Mazzu before getting the job before the…
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