December 3 – Chris Coleman has been named the new manager of OH Leuven following the departure of Oscar Garcia.
The Welshman signed a deal until 2026 and attended Leuven’s goalless draw with Anderlecht on Sunday.
“I didn’t have much time to get to know the club, but I didn’t see any negative side to the offer,” said Coleman at a news conference on Monday.
“I’ve worked abroad a lot, but I definitely wanted to become a coach in Belgium at some point. The Jupiler Pro League is a strong competition, one that is getting better and better.”
After 16 match days, Leuven, the sister club of Kingpower-owned Leicester City, are 13th in the table, with only Kortrijk, Cercle Brugge and bottom-of-the-table Beerschot doing worse. At the same time, they are just five points behind sixth-ranked AA Gent.
“It is indeed close together in the table and I do not see why we could not reach the top six,” said Coleman. “I am used to fighting against relegation, but OHL is in the most ‘healthy’ situation that I have ever known in my coaching career. I have seen a lot of good things and want to bring the club to safety as soon as possible.”
The OHL hierarchy called Coleman “the missing link” after they dismissed Garcia over a string of poor results. The Welshman has managed Real Sociedad, Sunderland and Hebei in China among others. This season he was managing AEL Limassol in Cyprus. Coleman is well known in Belgium after he eliminated the Red Devils from Euro 2016 in the knockout stages with Wales.
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