Football Season Guide

Sint-Truiden

In


Joselpho Barnes (att) Riga; Bruno Godeau (def) Gent; Frederic Ananou (def) Hansa Rostock; Ryotaro Ito (mid) Albirex Niigata; Ryoya Ogawa (def) FC Tokyo – on loan; Rihito Yamamoto (mid) Gamba Osaka – on loan

Out


Toni Leistner (k) (def) Hertha Berlin; Gianni Bruno (k) (att) Gent – end of loan; Daichi Hayashi (r) (att) Nuremberg – on loan; Frank Boya (r) (mid) Royal Antwerp – end of loan; Robert Bauer (r) (def) Al-Tai; Mory Konate (r) (mid) Mechelen; Jorge Teixeira (sp) (def) AVS FS; Rocco Reitz (sp) (mid) Borussia Monchengladbach - end of loan; Taichi Hara (sp) (att) Alaves - end of loan

In the end it was a disappointing season for Sint-Truiden in 2022/23. They looked good to make the European playoffs but from February they suffered a disappointing loss of form, only winning two of their last 10 matches and ended up finishing 12th. The summer has seen the departure of experienced manager Bernd Hollerbach and a big turnover of players. Six regular starters from last season have left including influential centre-back Leistner and top scorer Bruno (18 league goals). Fellow German Thorsten Fink has been brought in to replace Hollerbach. A decorated player, Fink has had a nomadic, up and down managerial career so far. His success in managing Japanese side Vissel Kobe has undoubtedly played a part in him being appointed, with Sint-Truiden having Japanese owners. The player incomings so far are somewhat of unknown quantities with three players from the Japanese league. Godeau has been brought in, the experienced centre-back was a support player for Gent last season. The structure in place at Sint-Truiden and the recruitment has been largely successful under Hollerbach so fans will hope this can continue under Fink. Unlike the calm, measured approach of Hollerbach though, Fink seems more of a temperamental character. It could be interesting with plenty of talking points, it could work or it could not.

Target


Mid-table. Will be wanting to push on but could be difficult in this season of transition for the club.