Football Season Guide

Charleroi remained a bit short of the top teams yet again last season despite qualifying for Play-off I. Indeed, after several years of hardly any movement forward, the extremely popular coach Felice Mazzu felt that it was time for some changes. In the summer he lost his long-serving captain Damien Marcq and also has been unsuccessful so far in his attempts to re-sign his best striker from last season Hamdi Harbaoui. This, plus the fact that no serious major reinforcements have arrived at Charleroi so far this transfer window, makes many pundits think that the Zebras are ready to use this season to rebuild their squad by giving a chance to more members of the junior formations to prove their worth. Mazzu signed an Iranian striker to have at least one typical target man on his books but the burden of the attack will most likely fall on the often inconsistent and unpredictable David Pollet and Chris Bedia. Marcq’s departure means that one of Gaëtan Hendrickx or the newcomer Marco Ilaimaharitra will partner Christophe Diandy in the double-pivot. Defensively things remain unchanged and, if there are many doubters as to how successful Charleroi will be going forward, the common opinion is that at the back the Zebras will be as good as ever. With plenty of experience and cover options for their backline and in goal, Mazzu is confident that solid defending along with purposeful fast breaks will bring success. However, the Zebras must get their act together and sign at least three-four new players before the end of Augus to give the squad depth and options. Reports from the pre-season show that Mazzu is spending lots of time working on set pieces and, just like last season, Charleroi are expected to carry a serious threat from dead-ball deliveries and late in the games.