Football Season Guide

Heracles Almelo finished last season in 14th place, thus achieving their goal of avoiding relegation. Perhaps a little more was expected, but given a terrible first half of the season, they managed to recover in time. Coach Erwin van de Looi did a good job, especially considering he had to deal with so many injured players. However, at the end of the season, he was dismissed and replaced by Bas Sibum, formerly of Roda, but in his first Eredivisie experience. The transfer campaign has been rather limited so far. Two fullbacks have arrived in Djevencio van der Kust and Mike te Wierik, as well as French midfielder Jeff Reine-Adélaïde. On the other hand, the most notable departure is the one of captain Brian De Keersmaecker, undoubtedly one of the club's best players. A sad note is the retirement at just 27 years of age of the strong striker Nikolai Laursen, who had not played for almost three years due to a bad injury. In pre-season they played four friendly matches without losing, 3 wins and a draw, but were not very reliable tests, as the opponents were of a low level.