Football Season Guide

Vejle Boldklub

In


Christian Sörensen (def) Midtjylland; Lasse Nielsen (def) Goztepe; Bismark Edjeodji (mid) Bechem United; Mike Vestergård (mid) Sarpsborg 08; Andrew Hjulsager (mid) KAA Gent; Mikkel Duelund (mid) Aarhus; Jonathan Amon (att) Lyngby; Wahid Faghir (att) Stuttgart Res.;

Out


German Onugkha (k) (att) Copenhagen – end of loan; Dimitris Emmanouilidis (r) (mid) released; Hamza Barry (r) (mid) released; Musa Juwara (r) (att) Pogon Szcecin; Kristian Kirkegaard (r) (att) released; Richard Jensen (sp) (def) released; David Colina (sp) (def) Augsburg – end of loan; Miiko Albornoz (sp) (def) released; Yeni Ngbakoto (sp) (mid) released; Emmanuel Yeboah (sp) (att) Brondby – end of loan;

Vejle achieved the impossible. Despite starting the season with 10 consecutive defeats Red and Whites somehow avoided relegation. Sacked coach Prelec after these 10 defeats. Then sacked his replacement Teja during the winter break as he hardly improved the fortunes. The true change happened during the spring when Vejle loaned back their talisman German Onugkha. The prolific striker was sold 3 rounds into the season but upon his return he scored in 7 consecutive games. This and the restoring of influential centre-back Stefan Velkov to the starting line-up, Teja had him frozen for months, made all the difference. Velkov led Vejle to a series of 1:0 play-off wins against direct rivals for survival. The Bulgarian defender scored the winning goal on 3 occasions on top of being crucial for the clean sheets. After the season ended the loved by the entire squad coach Prelec was restored as the head coach. The Croat led Vejle for 3 years before his departure last September, so his return made the main core of players happy. It has been a summer of many other changes. Onugkha is back at Copenhagen, although Vejle are pushing hard to loan him back again for this campaign. If he returns the Russian has proven he can carry the attack by himself. Parted ways with 10 players altogether already. Added 7 new faces. Among them are the experienced defenders Christian Sörensen and Lasse Nielsen. They are full-backs that can also operate as wing-backs. At least the former should be a key contributor. Attacking midfielders Andrew Hjulsager and Mikkel Duelund are also newcomers. Both could prove vital signings. They are upgrades in the creativity department compared to what Vejle had last season.

Target


Avoid relegation remains the main goal. Might struggle to do so if no reliable goalscorer emerges.