In his weekly analysis of the match day in the Jupiler Pro League, Sporza football commentator Peter Vandenbempt focuses on the Antwerp derby between Antwerp and Beerschot. He talks about the mediocre performance of the referees, but also the presidents of both clubs.
Listen to Peter Vandenbempt’s analysis here
Peter Vandenbempt in a nutshell:
- The referee team in Antwerp-Beerschot did not make a good turn.
- It is particularly bad for a club president to question the integrity of a referee.
- A lot of damage has been done at Antwerp and the club is really not going to get any better.
“An unfortunate performance by the referee team”
Beerschot felt cheated after the Antwerp derby and I fear that was right. It was another unfortunate performance by the referee team. If that all turns out to the disadvantage of one team, then you have trouble.
It was about a lack of consistency on the part of the referees. There was little to say about De Smet’s exclusion from Beerschot, but why does Seck van Antwerp not receive a second yellow card while he clearly deliberately kicks a ball against an opponent who is lying on the ground, after the whistle has already been blown? You do not do that. Yellow and packing.
And above all: why does the VAR intervene in one slight error by Antwerp to reject a goal by Beerschot and not in the other – to give Beerschot a penalty?
Sometimes as a referee you can make mistakes that are human and that you can understand, but that is not really the case here.
The VAR can then say that he could not see the contact between the goalkeeper and Sebaoui well, but that is just nonsense. And then as a referee team you have had too much influence on the result and you have made a bad turn.
Sometimes as a referee you can make mistakes that are human and that you can understand, but that is not really the case here.
So the rest gets snowed under. That the atmosphere was great for example. Fortunately, because the match was very mediocre and the football very weak. A great lack of quality on both sides, although there were a few exceptions, such as that young Sebaoui. But then all that is kind of forgotten.
Beerschot coach Greg Vanderidt in discussion with referee Nathan Verboomen.
“Insinuations by Beerschot chairman are particularly bad”
I think that Beerschot has questions about the neutrality of referee Nathan Verboomen, because he works for a company that sponsors Antwerp.
And that Beerschot chairman Francis Vrancken even included Operation Zero to justify his concern was really bad. I don’t think Nathan Verboomen will come to give sports nutrition advice himself in the Antwerp dressing room or that he will step onto the field with the thought of pleasing a customer of a company he also works for in front of everyone. That is unimaginable.
It reminds me a bit of Paul Allaerts long ago, when – when he whistled a Club Brugge match and made a mistake there – the link was immediately made between his employer Dexia and Club, which was sponsored by Dexia. Then it stops of course.
In all seriousness, I find it particularly bad that a club president questions the integrity of the ref. He may criticize, he is right, but no innuendo. By the way, he must be angry with the VAR, because Nathan Verboomen has called it to the screen one time and not another time. That is where the responsibility lies.
Instead of putting his energy into a possible investigation into the integrity of the referee in the coming days, he had better ask himself why his team, which can fight like Sunday at the Bosuil, is clearly last and will be relegated later. That seems more useful to me.
Beerschot is disappointed after the defeat at Antwerp.
Collision at half time kills a trainer
The collision during halftime between Antwerp chairman Paul Gheysens and Brian Priske is very painful for a trainer, even fatal.
A chairman or CEO who comes at halftime to berate everyone, including the coach, in the locker room is completely unacceptable, unprofessional and counterproductive. Unless Gheysens thinks that his démarche has caused a turnaround, that is of course also possible.
Paul Gheysens is not alone in our football with that kind of antics. A while ago a CEO of a top club came to express his displeasure during halftime.
We all know the story of Marc Coucke, but he has long since learned from his mistakes. Paul Gheysens apparently not yet. Even after the game against STVV, he had already started calling. The fact that he came into the picture a few times yesterday with a glass of wine in hand does not help the perception either.
A chairman or CEO who comes at halftime to berate everyone, including the coach, in the locker room is completely unacceptable, unprofessional and counterproductive.
“If you put Priske at the door, you also set the dressing room upside down”
Chapeau to coach Brian Priske for confronting his boss and for defending his players. He knows what the consequences could be. This naturally creates an unworkable situation.
If a conflict between the trainer and the big boss of a club is so openly on the street and the owner apparently also shouts that the trainer will leave in front of everyone, then there is no turning back, I think.
Unless the chairman makes an evaluation today, separately from the emotions yesterday and in consultation with his competent, sensible and sober right-hand man Sven Jaecques, what the problems are.
A lot of damage has been done to the Bosuil and the club is really not going to get any better.
And then they have to ask themselves whether the coach in this context can solve those problems in the short or long term and whether another trainer in the short term – Sunday against Anderlecht – will perform so much better with this Antwerp.
And who will that be? If you now put Priske at the door, you will also turn the dressing room upside down. Because, also thanks to Priske’s resistance, he emphatically sided with the coach.
Except, to outline the complexity of the problem, Ritchie De Laet. He was already not captain and was replaced after half an hour. He didn’t think he was injured, the coach was.
De Laet was then very angry and immediately drove home in what, as a real Antwerp man, is his match of the year. A lot of damage has been done to the Bosuil and the club is really not going to get any better.
