The retirement of Alex Taylor

Alex was annoyed that the news of his and De Bock’s meeting had gotten out to the press. News of players being unhappy was never good for the club and Alex hoped that the issue could be cut off before it dragged on into a long running saga that the media would gleefully report every tiny thin about.

Evidently De Bock also wanted to knock the issue on the head as he asked to talk to Alex after training.



Alex invited De Bock back into his office for the second day in a row. “I want to leave and I will. Either you sell me or I will leave on a free transfer in the summer and you will get nothing out of it.”



Alex knew he was in a corner. De Bock’s deal ran out in the summer and there had been preliminary talks but, no deal had been done so he was free to leave in the summer. Alex cursed himself for not getting the contract resigned and decided to think of it as a learning point.

He took no time to think over whether he would keep him or let him go. He didn’t want to keep an unhappy player and there was also the money, Alex hoped he could stop the news that De Bock would leave on a free to try and help keep the price up although clubs would know when he was offered out that there was something going on. “I’m happy to agree to sell you but, I want something in return for that promise. You have to give your all while you are here and make sure that you aren’t a drag on the team morale. I grant your promise you will be happy and give your all. Deal?

De Bock only though it over for a split second. “Yeah, that’s a deal. I will do all I can while I’m here I like the club so want to help them do well. Playing poorly also won’t get me a move.”



Alex was pleased that De Bock’s departure would be as amicable as possible given the circumstances of a threat to run down his contract. Alex called Roel and told him to try and get onto selling De Bock. Roel said he would do it as soon as he could to try and get the best value for him and ensure that he had enough time to plan his future and where he wanted to play football next year.

With all the drama out of the way Alex got ready for the game against Oostende which would be a welcome distraction from all of his off the field action regarding De Bock. Alex felt that everything had gone badly but, turned around at the end into a decent deal for both sides.

It was a very short trip to the seaside in Oostende punctuated by Denswil playing some music that was so awful Alex threatened to send him to the U-21’s if he didn’t turn it off.



Alex had opted for a full strength side for the game against Oostende with Engels being replace by Mechele in the centre of defence along side Denswil.

Oostende got a throw in in their own half after 5 minutes. Milic threw it long to Amadou in the middle of the pitch. Oostende passed the ball around the back as Brugge pressed them to try and win the ball back. The ball was then played up to Varga on the wing and he hit the ball long to the speedy Gohi Bi, he sprinted into the box and kept running tightening the ngle on himself before shooting a low shot into the side netting for a goal kick.

After 12 minutes Meunier hit Luciano with a throw in deep in the Oostende half. Luciano passed the ball to Martins on the edge of the box, he played the ball to Izquierdo in space who smashed a low shot goalwards. The keeper got down quickly to push the ball behind for a corner. Which came to nothing.

After 15 minutes Denswil took a free kick that was just in the Brugge half. He passed to Mechele who played the ball wide to Meunier, he played the ball up the wing to Gedoz. Gedoz promptly tied his defender up in knots and slipped past him. He then whipped in a low cross and Luciano stretched and got a foot to the ball to fire the ball into the roof of the net and put Brugge into the lead with another goal for them. Alex was pleased with how his signing was adapting to the Belgian league and firing in the goals.

The game was even for the rest of the half and Brugge went in a goal ahead. Alex told them to play smart and ensure they kept hold of the lead, Alex was happy with how the half had gone.

After 51 minutes Oostende had a corner and Matos stood over it. He whipped in the ball and and Akpala peeled away from Butelle and at the edge of the six yard box powered a header in past Butelle.

For the rest of the half Oostende held the ball and did very little with it as the two sides took a point each from the encounter. Alex wasn’t to displeased but, knew they would have to go up a level if they were to challenge Roma.



Brugge and AA Gent were level at the top of the table on points with Brugge in top as they had conceded three less goals than AA Gent while they had both scored 17 times.

De Bock is dead to me, kill him.

Results wise, unlucky so far this season mate, I know you will pull through

Shame to only be getting a point from them type of games, I agree that you must step up a level to challenge Roma but you've done brilliantly this season nevertheless!

BeanyUnited Yeah not pleased with him but, can hopefully get some money out of him before teams can get him on a free.

Jack Yeah we have to improve for Roma but, have been good so far.

Alex had been watching the Roma press conference and was loving every word of it. Once it was over Alex searched the internet and found the best transcript of the interview that he could and printed off a few copies of the interview. He grabbed some tape and put it up all around the player’s locker room so that they would all see it when they came in in the morning.



Alex felt that the headline of the article he had gone for would be more than motivational for his team ahead of the game. He would make sure to mention it in his press conference the next day and lob some comments back about the Roma camp. He hoped that the headline that he had gone for would have two impacts on his team. It should motivate them to do as well as they could against Roma and try to get something out of the game, he hoped it would also take some pressure off of them ahead of what was a big game.

Alex watched the reaction of the players when they came in and saw the headline, most of them seemed annoyed about it and that was what Alex had wanted. The team trained intensity and looked more than prepared to take on Roma which was just what Alex had intended to happen.

Alex walked into his press conference and waited for the inevitable first question. “How would you react to the claim’s made by Luciano Spalleti that you are an easy opponent who they should easily beat?”

Alex had prepared an answer for this as he had guessed that the question would come up. “Well Spalletti has never managed against us so I’m not sure how he could know how his team would do against us. We have worked hard and are prepared for the match, the squad is talented and ready to go. They think they can get something out of the game and so do I, people shouldn’t write us off in this game the way Spalletti has.”

Alex got a follow up question he expected at some point. “What do you think about Luciano Spalletti?” Usually Alex would have been respectful in these situation but, he was annoyed by what Spalletti said so had decided to take a different approach.

“I don’t think he is that good.” Alex started saying and the noise of typing and camera flashes increase as journalists realised they could get something from it. “He splashed all the cash at Zenit and only won one league title despite outspending the rest of the league combined, his first spell in Roma wasn’t great and I’m sure their fans weren’t thrilled to be in the Europa League group stage this season. Having him in charge gives us a much better chance of a victory.”

The rest of the press conference was dull and Alex hoped his team played well, he had gone out on a limb attack Spalletti and is his side were on the receiving end of a bad loss it would be quite embarrassing for him. But, he wouldn’t stand by while someone attacked his players and he was sure that they could put in a good performance against Roma.

The next day would tell if he had been right to go after Spalletti or not but, in the meantime he had got a lot more media exposure for the game which he hoped the players would like as they could show what they could do. He was shocked at just how many places were reporting what he said. One thing he had purposely done was to avoid criticising any of the Roma players only praising his so that they wouldn’t have the same reaction his players did to what Spalletti said.

Alex named the same side that played against Oostende and he hoped they could step their level up as a result of the comments and playing against a big team. Alex saw some star players in the Roma side. Dzeko, Salah, Pjanic, De Rossi, Nainggolan, Manolas and Rulli were all big name players starting and Iturbe, Stuaro, Doumbia and Strootman on the bench were all also big names.

The first six minutes were all Roma and they went forward again as the ball bounced Nainggolan’s way after Martins made a good tackle. He played the ball wide to Salah, he played the ball inside to Pjanic. He played a classy flick wide to Salah, he then cut inside past two defenders to get a good shooting angle. He fired a hard shot that curled inside the far post to put Roma ahead early. Alex watched on grimly as they celebrated his side had offered nothing so far and were now behind.

After 18 minutes Nainggolan won the ball off of Vanaken and played it wide to Sidibe. He ran into the space and then passed to Salah in the box 8 yards from goal. Salah was pushed away from goal but, was able to turn. He launched a shot towards the far post on the turn and Butelle was diving but, couldn’t get to the ball. It hit off the bar and Denswil hammered the rebound as far away as he could.

After 25 minutes Brugge got a corner. Gedoz hit in a corner that was cleared back to him and his second cross was cleared to the halfway line. Meunier played the ball to Martins, he beat De Rossi twice and then played the ball inside to Fejsa. He chipped the ball out wide to Meunier, Meunier passed the ball to Vanaken on the edge of the box. Vanaken hit a low shot towards goal that Rulli pushed away. Izquierdo got to the rebound beat a defender and then tried to squeeze a low shot on goal. The ball hit the post and then Rulli in the chest, the ball stayed on the line and Rulli dived on the ball before anyone could get to it.

Rulli punted the ball long and the ball was played to Pjanic. He hit the ball wide to Sidibe in space, he hit a cross in deep and Ljalic headed the ball from close range. The ball thunked off the bar and before Alex could breathe a sigh of relief Salah poked the rebound in from close range to put Roma two goals ahead. Alex crouched on the sideline as he tried to plan a way for the team to get back into the game.

After 35 minutes Meunier took a throw in deep in the Roma half, Marcos intercepted the throw in and the ball went back to him. He passed to Gedoz on the edge of the box from a tight angle he surprised everyone by shooting. Rulli parried the ball and Luciano poked in the rebound to pull a goal back for Brugge

Three minutes later Sidibe took a throw in deep in the Brugge half, Pjanic couldn’t bring the ball down and it ran on to De Bock. He passed to Martins who played it long and back to Roma. The ball was played back up to Nainggolan 30 yards out, he hit the ball wide to Sidibe who Alex was annoyed to see in space again. He whipped in a cross and Dzeko met it on the volley, his shot smacked off of Denswil and the rebound fell to Salah. He hit a half volley and Butelle flung himself wide to push the shot away. Meunier hit the ball out for a throw in to end the chance.

At half time Alex pulled of Denswil who had been poor and replaced him with Engels. He told his team they had grown into the game and they were able to get level if they played well and smartly.

Just before the hour Alex did one thing that he had told his team to avoid at all costs, give Pjanic a chance from a free kick just outside the box. 22 yards out Pjanic stood over the ball, he looped his shot over the wall and in the far corner just under the bar. Butelle didn’t move a muscle as there was nothing he could do as the ball flew into the top corner. Alex decided not to change his team into attacking as he felt Roma would cut them apart on the counter so he decided to leave Brugge playing on the counter.

The game somewhat died down as Roma kept the ball but, did nothing with it and Brugge failed to counter. After 76 minutes Gedoz went on a good run that only stopped when he was fouled out wide. Gedoz stood over the free kick a couple yards wide of the edge of the box and whipped in a cross. Engels rose high above Marcos Alonso and flicked his header over Rulli and in at the far post. Engels grabbed the ball out of the net as the Club Brugge players and staff tried to get the crowd going again. Alex told his players to get forward whenever they could to grab another goal.

Two minutes later Brugge won a corner. Gedoz whipped it in and Nainggolan headed the ball away before Ljajic hit the ball up to the halfway line. Meunier, the only outfield player back got the ball and played it up to Martins. He played the ball up to Gedoz who ran inside and chipped a pass inside to Fejsa. 30 yards out with the ball bouncing Fejsa simply smashed the ball as hard as he could. The ball arrowed into the top corner to blow the roof off the stadium, Fejsa sprinted to the corner flag and slid down before the team dived on top of him Alex celebrated in the technical area and when he saw Spalletti looking over he shushed him and then cupped a hand to his ear as Spalletti turned away.

The game ended 3-3, it was a great game and Alex was thrilled his side came back to earn a point. He just hoped they hadn’t used up all of their energy as they played AA Gent on Saturday so would only have one day off.



The result kept Brugge in second place and Red Star won 1-0 away to close the gap between them and the qualifying spots.

All very balanced in that group stage so fat, tense times!

BeanyUnited Yeah all close hopefully we can make sure Legia don't get anything after 4 games and then we will be in a good position

With the match vs Roma finishing just before midnight and AA Gent visiting on Saturday Alex just had the players in at the afternoon for a light session and some film to watch and planned to do the same on Saturday.

Alex took a short day for himself as well as he was at games and there was no point doing some detailed scouting if he couldn’t pass what he had learnt onto his players. He got home from training just as his kids got out of school. As Ales had been busy prepping for the Roma game this week he had seen less of them than he would have liked.

Alex decided to go out and play football with them. They all played for youth teams and were the best players on their teams, which wasn’t overly surprising to Alex as he played a lot with them. At 9 Lauren was better than Jake and Ellie being two years older and bigger. Alex was by far the best of the lot but, he knew the days of that may be limited so enjoyed showing off his repertoire of tricks and flicks to impress his kids while they couldn’t quite do them.

He showed them a couple of tricks they could do and how to shoot better before they just played for fun as Alex took on all three of them. In a rare occurrence they worked with each other and didn’t fight as they usually did competing. Alex was still able to score whenever he wanted, although he didn’t despite his competitiveness, however he struggled more defending his kids as they were able to force him to run around for ever after the ball and was getting tired. It was tight as everyone was tiring and Alex decided to let his kids win as they had played well together.

Alex took a 20-18 loss and the endless ribbing that came with losing to your kids. He had to admit that they were good and if he tried his best he would beat them but, it would be tighter than he would have wanted it to be.

After everyone ate the kids were forced to start on homework and Alex felt that for him in certain subjects, like maths, Lauren was rapidly approaching the time in school when he was no use in helping with homework so he left Rachael to help with it and focused on helping Jake and Ellie which took two minutes and then left with them.

He was cajoled into playing hide and seek later on and spent some time trying to find Ellie who had hid in a cupboard under some blankets and Alex would have been panicking if he had taken a bit longer to find her.

When he had to hide he crammed himself into a small gap between the fridge and the wall beside it hoping the darkness would help keep him hidden. He was a bit annoyed to be found second out of three as he thought it was quite a good spot he had picked.

After that his kids spent some time on technology before they were sent complaining to bed. Alex followed them soon after as he had to be up early to get some last minute stuff planned for the players to do. He also planned to complain about the one day break after the game regardless of result and had already done so in his pre game press conference earlier that day.

Alex kept the same team that had played against Roma as he hoped they had the momentum to go on and play well. Alex still found the formation AA Gent went for but, he couldn’t say anything about it as it had clearly worked for them. They would also be on a high as they had beaten Bayer 2-1 in mid-week.

After two minutes Meunier won the ball at the half way line and played it inside to Martinsl He took a touch and whipped the ball out wide to Felipe Gedoz. He got past his defender and hit in a deep cross. Izquierdo got onto the ball at the back post with a header and powered it on target, the keeper had got across quickly and was able to push the ball away and Akaminko booted the ball away.

After 25 minutes Alex had great concern as Martins went down while running with the ball and showed no signs of getting back up. Thierry went on and instantly waved for a stretcher and a substitute, Alex was very annoyed as Martins had been great so far and one of his best players so far this season. “Hamstrings gone” was all Thierry said as he went by. Alex moved Fejsa to CM and Simons to defensive midfield.

The game got to halftime with not a lot of action and Alex’s squad was quiet and he tried to motivate them and big up the importance of the game for their season and the fans.

After 53 minutes AA Gent won a corner. Wikheim stood over the corner and then whipped it in, Akaminko made a good run and headed the ball on target. Butelle pushed the ball onto the post and Damien Da Silva reacted first to poke the ball over the line and put AA Gent ahead and top of the table.

Alex reacted by putting on Vossen and going to a 4-4-2 to try and get some goals. After 62 minutes AA Gent played the ball up from a goal kick to get the ball into the Brugge half. Izquierdo got back and intercepted a pass to win the ball back for Brugge. He played it back to De Bock and then received the ball from Vanaken. The ball was passed to Simons who played the ball to Vanaken he hit a first time long pass to Vossen who ducked to let the ball go on to Felipe Gedoz. He was in space and took a touch before firing a low ball across the face of goal. The ball hit off the heel of the back pedalling Akaminko and rolled slowly into the goal to level the game for Brugge.

Gedoz won and took a free kick after 72 minutes. His cross was cleared but, he was first to the ball. He fund Vossen in the box who chested the ball down and fired a low shot towards goal. Seis got down quickly at his near post to push the ball behind for a corner.

With ten minutes left Gedoz had run all he could and was clearly done so Alex made his final change putting on Ebert for him.

After 89 minutes Butelle hit a goal kick short to Simons. He was forced to play the ball long and AA Gent won the ball back. They passed it around well at the back then tried to hit it long and De Bock headed the ball away..Izquierdo got to it a split second ahead of a defender and pushed forward before passing to Luciano. He hit the ball across the pitch to Vossen on the edge of the box. Vossen passed the ball first time into the path of the overlapping Ebert. From a tight angle he was one on one with the keeper. As he pulled his leg back to shoot the keeper guessed the shot would be low across goal and went down. He could only forlornly swing his hand at the ball as it rippled the net with Ebert having shot high at the near post. Ebert ran behind the goal in front of all the fans celebrating until Vossen tackled him and started a pile on. Alex smiled as the fans erupted when the goal went in and had to react quickly to catch Philippe who jumped into his arms. Alex let him down and jumped around celebrating before yelling at his players to be smart and stay back.

After three long minutes of added time the ref blew his whistle three times and Alex punched the air as his side got a victory over AA Gent to give them some space at the top of the table.



They joy was tempered by news of the injury Martins sustained. A torn hamstring would see him miss 3 months in some bad news for Alex

With the international break Alex got down to trying to sell De Bock with not long left before he could leave for free. Alex and Roel were working trying to find a club that would pay well for him despite the lack of time left of his contract.

Augsburg came in with a bid for De Bock which Alex wasn’t thrilled with offer but, Roel convinced him to entertain the offer and try to negotiate with them. Alex left Roel to negotiate with Augsburg and try to get as much for him as they could. Roel would have to be careful as Augsburg were the only club with a serious interest.



Roel finally agreed a deal and Alex signed off on it. They got over one and a half million for him and given that he could have left on a free soon Alex felt that was a good deal for them, he also made plans to try and find a replacement for him as soon as he could using the money they had earned and possibly a bit that he had saved from the first window.



The next day Alex watched as the Belgian Cup draw for the next round was made. There were some lower division sides left in and Alex hoped to get them as opposed to a bigger side, most of which had snuck into the next round. The draw progressed on until in the middle of it Brugge came out of the hat to play in the next round at home. Alex was a bit disappointed when KRC Genk came out of the plastic bowl. It would be a tough draw but, he had faith in his team.



Alex was walking over to the gym after the draw and heard a scream of pain come from there. He ran in shortly followed by Thierry to see Patrick Ebert looking in considerable pain. Soon after Thierry said he would again miss a while, this time around a month. Alex was annoyed as he had been playing well and challenging Gedoz and Izquierdo, he also knew Ebert would be incredibly frustrated with injuries constantly stopping him from having a run of games at the club.



The next day Alex faced the press and confirmed the sale of Laurens De Bock to Augsburg for 1.4 million rising to 1.55. Alex deflected questions over a break down in the relationship between him and De Bock and focused on the good fee for the club and the chance for De Bock to prove himself in a tough league which he wanted for some time.



The next day Alex was back to confirm another deal as Didier Zokora was set to leave to Serbian side Vojvodina, with little time left in his career he wanted to play more than he had at Brugge so Alex had agreed to sell him. The fee was nominal and his wages weren’t that big but, it all helped. Alex was surprised that Zokora picked Vojvodina as he had a couple of offers from Portugal and France which Alex would have thought were more enticing. At the press conference he talked of Zokora’s professionalism, his hard working attitude and good performance in his short time at the club and wished him well for when he went to Serbia.

Later on Alex looked up the town of Novi Sad and saw why Zokora chose to live there. It looked beautiful and historic, although he still preferred Bruges.

Well done on getting decent money for De Bock bro! Keep your story bro I am enjoying it

BeanyUnited Yeah pleased with the deal we got for him. Thanks for the support.

With most of his players having had two weeks as they didn’t get an international call up Alex was able to keep his first choice line up. Waasland looked like they were setting up to sit deep and try to counter against Brugge. The pitch was also very narrow which also would hurt his side as Alex’s team liked to play wide.

After 20 minutes Waasland cleared another Brugge attack from deep. Mechele intercepted the clearance and played the ball up to Cools on the wing. He played a 1-2 with Santamaria and found himself in space on the wing, he cut the ball back to Gedoz on the edge of the box. Gedoz plated the ball back to Santamaria who played it along to Vanaken, he floated the ball back out wide to Cools who was again in space. He played the ball to Gedoz inside the box Gedoz turned his man and lofted a ball up to the far post. Izquierdo got up and headed the ball back across goal and Luciano poked the ball in from close range to get Brugge ahead.

The game got to half time with Alex wanting his team to try and break down Waasland a bit more. He encouraged them and told them to make sure they held on to the lead and not take a lot of risks.

The game continued on and finally Waasland started to try and break out. Waasland took a throw in the centre back left the ball to run along and Luciano nipped in to win the ball and run in on goal. It was a tight angle and he shifted the ball onto his left foot and then struck it low and hard past the keeper and in.

It was a poor game in all honesty but, Alex was pleased with the win and while the performance wasn’t great he couldn’t be to disappointed with three points from the game.