Football Season Guide

Zulte Waregem will be seeking to repair the damage of a truly awful last season in which they never found any rhythm and struggled in the play-offs as well. Francky Dury, the longest-serving manager in the league, is going for a reset this season in the hope of assembling a slightly more competitive and coherent side after the shambles of last year. For that matter, the two most consistent quality players in Theo Bongonda and Hamdi Habraoui were shipped away for decent fees. On the other hand, Essevee managed to bring in some talented attacking players in Dmitri Oberlin and Cyle Larin, both on loan, and they will have the opportunity to showcase their qualities and hopefully make the Waregem team better as a whole. The other additions look less exciting for now and it remains to be seen how the team will fare over the course of a long season with a midfield based around the brawn and muscle of Ibrahima Seck and little else around him. The defence is the one area where there has been little change but the team shipped too many goals last season and there could well be an addition or two there before the end of August. For now, Zulte Waregem remain very much a squad in transition and Dury knows well that more is needed in terms of additions to have a satisfying campaign and avoid the embarrassments of last season, especially the series of defeats against local rivals Kortrijk.