Standard recovered after a difficult start to the season (3 out of 18), Carl Hoefkens assured that his team would even have been capable of winning by being down by three goals, and some supporters dreamed of seeing this Standard return, finally, in playoffs 1, after being familiar with them the previous season.
Price scores, Fossey injured, O’Neill ill: international news from Standard
Everyone knows the rest of the story. The crisis was underlying, like the heavy defeat at Antwerp (6-0) in mid-November, which was the start of salary problems since the first payment delays had been noted. And the sequence was harmful: a success in thirteen matches, Hoefkens dismissed on January 1 and replaced by Ivan Leko, the extra-sporting troubles which accumulated for Standard, caught up by an American shareholder (777 Partners) with poor manners. recommendable and management which revealed some hiccups.
Virtual barrage over the last five days
Standard missed playoffs 1, for the fourth time in a row, and little suggests that this will change this season. A year later, the day after the international break, the picture is indeed less happy. And as the crisis is never far away in Sclessin, the upcoming program could turn the season on a (very) bad side. Or good ones, all the same.
The reception of Charleroi, this Sunday, in a Walloon shock which is never trivial, and after the defeat at Anderlecht (3-0), is a meeting which already seems very important for Liégeois who will go the following week , in Antwerp.
Between now and the next international break, in mid-November, Standard will again host St-Truiden then go to Ghent, with the reception of Lyra-Lierse (D1 amateurs) in the Belgian Cup. Four championship matches, almost at the end of the first leg, which will give a snapshot of the level of a virtual play-off team over the last five matches (4 out of 15), with OH Louvain, Cercle Bruges and Beerschot.
600 Charleroi supporters will be able to come to Standard
Compared to last season, Standard, with 12 points after ten days, has one point less, at the same time, in a curve of reversed results (8 out of 15 to start this season). In the heart of autumn, and after a successful summer, he will have to fill up with units to avoid a shivering winter.
News to follow off the field too
He must regain his lost defensive solidity against Westerlo (1-2) then at Anderlecht and find the path to goal other than via a penalty. A double objective which will not be easy to achieve against Carolos who have only won two of the last twenty confrontations against Standard, an element of history which could serve as a benchmark for Ivan Leko’s team.
Will the Croatian coach, who tried a more daring game plan in the last two matches, return to certain basics against the Zebras? After the defeat at Anderlecht, it will be necessary to get back on track. How ? That’s the whole question.
Sunday’s match will therefore be a crucial first meeting, while waiting for the rest, and other important deadlines, off the field. The sale of the club remains in fact a soap opera which will fuel the chronicle to end the year. The capital increase of €25 million, carried out recently, made it possible to clear up some clouds, for the license, and to update itself with regard to some suppliers.
More than €60 million in capital increase, but for what result?
But the fog is never far away. In total, 777 Partners, now A-Cap, will have deposited more than €60 million in capital increases, divided into six tranches
and very often to clear debts. A colossal sum, added to the €22 million spent on the purchase of Standard in May 2022 (11 for the club and 11 for the stadium).
For a very disappointing result, a management which has raised and still raises questions and takeover candidates who are not going to hurry due to financial results in the red – in the next financial year, it is already certain that the loss will be around of €20 million, or even more depending on the accounting options chosen.
For the sale, A-Cap will see what the market offers
In this context, and without prejudging the concerns of 777 Partners, and in the A-Cap extension, with the American justice system, it seems very difficult to set a sale price for the Standard. The American bank Moelis and the American shareholder say they are waiting to see what the market will offer. That is to say, not much, for the moment…
The coming months will tell both which candidate is interested and how the club will manage to (sur)vive, to avoid cash flow worries like last season, with salary delays. A year ago, Standard was on cloud nine, after resounding successes against Bruges and Anderlecht. It will be time to win on Sunday to avoid a first crisis. Or yet another, those most accustomed to it will say.
