Just over three weeks after Alexander Blessin‘s departure from Genoa, Ostend presented their new coach in the person of Yves Vanderhaeghe. The 52-year-old Belgian is far from being an unknown on the coast, he who had already trained the KVO between 2015 and 2017 before leaving for Ghent.
After a difficult time at Cercle, which dismissed him at the end of November when the club was penultimate, Vanderhaeghe will have to put the coastal club back on track. Ostend is currently 14th in the Pro League with only five points ahead of play-off Seraing.
“Yves knows the competition, the club and is a good coach and people manager”, explains the press release from the Ostend club. “His teams are still very well structured and organized defensively, but retain a certain offensive freedom,” added Gauthier Ganaye, CEO of Les Côtiers, “during a meeting lasting several hours, I was convinced that he would be the right choice to take over the team.”
Vanderhaeghe will start on the bench against Mechelen this weekend and has signed a contract until the end of the season. The current staff remains in place, which means that Markus Pflanz, who took over after the departure of Blessin, returns to his position as assistant.
