The opening day has passed last weekend, and already has a manager been kicked to the curb. This dubious honour this time goes to Genk’s Emilio Ferrera, who had failed to rejuvenate a struggling team during his short tenure, only leading the team since February, taking over after the Dutchman Mario Been, who had lead the Limburg team to a cup victory in 2013.
After losing 3-1 against Mechelen, the Genk board evaluated the manager’s performance so far and came to the conclusion that he has done an abysmal job, winning only three matches since the start of his tenure, and racking up only 13 points out of a possible 75.
While a logical decision to fire Ferrera, I think it is too little too late. A surprising choice from the get-go, given that he had been roaming from one obscure club to the next for the last few years, and that he had not exactly been all that successful in Belgium earlier, Ferrera was brought in to instill a fresh sense of enthusiasm and fighting spirit in the team.
Although the move showed promise of improvement at the start, with a new style of play and players eager to please their new boss, Genk quickly slumped back into old habits, making many defensive mistakes, not scoring many goals, and in general performing badly and without fervor. For now, perpetual assistant manager Pierre Denier will take over Ferrera’s duties, until the club finds a new – and hopefully more fitting – manager to lead them to previously attained heights.
Source: DSG
