After winning five successive domestic titles in Greece and Ukraine, Trebor Mahtal was a Football Manager with a blooming reputation. But he was also one with a reputation for jumping ship. And that proved the case again as, after two years of success in Kyiv, he bid “do pobachennya” to Dynamo and set off for Central Europe for the first time.
Back in April, Mahtal was approached by a new team in a new league and offered a contract at the end of the 2029/30 season. This opportunity took him west to Belgium, as Royal Antwerp, who were then lingering in 6th in Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League, came calling.
Who Are Royal Antwerp?
Royal Antwerp Football Club is a professional side based in the city of Antwerp. It was founded by English students as Antwerp Cricket Club in 1880, making it the oldest football team in Belgium, hence the nickname The Great Old. However, it’s only won the Belgian title five times, the most recent being the real life 2023 victory. It’s also won five Croky Cups, including one during this save in 2029, and was runner-up in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1993, losing 3-1 to Parma in the Final.
Antwerp play at the 16,144-capacity Bosuil, which was built in 1923 and rebuilt in 2020 and has a 50,000 potential capacity. The club has decent facilities with 11 youth recruitment and facilities, 13 junior coaching and 14 training facilities, with a 3-star reputation. Having been 6th when approaching Mahtal, Antwerp dropped into the country’s slightly confusing second phase group and finished 8th. However, upon moving to Antwerp, Mahtal instantly knew he’d made a mistake. He’d forgotten about the bug affecting the Belgian and Dutch leagues, which leaves clubs with negative transfer budgets, and the finances in Belgium looked like a nightmare. So, this is likely to be a one-season trip, but Mahtal’s first task was to generate transfer income by selling 13 players for a profit of £51m.
The best player remaining was attacking midfielder Iván Jaime along with midfielder Mandela Keita, goalkeeper Senne Laemens, promising homegrown midfielder Koen Halleux, right back Eitan Abuksis, winger Rayane Bounida and centre back Ritchy Valme. Mahtal added to that by bringing in centre back Oliver Krathmann for £8.25m from Midtjylland, striker Lucas Rafael for £5.5m from Corinthians and winger Vladimir Hruska for £3.2m from Hradec Kralove. He then snapped up former Porto striker David Martins and midfielder Andrija Maksimovic, who’d been released by Chelsea.
Mahtal opted for the 4-4-2 approach he’d used in Greece. Halleux will train as a forward to form a raw strike partnership alongside Rafael and Martins, with Keita, Krathmann and Valme providing a solid core.
Getting Started In Belgium
The bookies have Antwerp down to finish 5th in Jupiler Pro League with title odds of 11/1. Standard are 10/3 favourites followed by Anderlecht and holders Genk (7/2) and Club Brugge (5/1). And if you’re not au fait with the Belgian league, teams play each other twice before splitting up into three separate end-of-season groups.
Mahtal’s time in Belgium began at home to Charleroi, who scored their first shot. Antwerp fired back as debutants Martins and Hruska combined for the opener. Mahtal told them off at half time and got the desired response as Rafael created an easy chance for Jaime, who settled it with a superb turn and 20-yard strike from a throw-in before Halleux put Rafael in for his debut goal.
They backed that up with a 3-1 win at home to Kortrijk but lost Martins for a few months with a broken ankle. Without him, they drew 1-1 at Gent and Zulte Waregem and 0-0 at home to Leuven, got thumped 4-0 at Anderlecht, then drew 1-1 at home to Standard. Remarkably, they made it six draws in nine games with a 0-0 at Union SG and 2-2 at Westerlo. They finally got another win as Jaime’s penalty earned an unconvincing 1-0 at home to Sint-Truiden, but were back to the draws with a 2-2 at Lommel.
Martins returned for wins over strugglers Oudenaarde and Seraing, lifting Antwerp to 5th place after 13 games. That gave them confidence for a run of big games that started with Martins scoring in a 2-0 win over Genk and a 1-1 at Club Brugge, before a slightly unlucky 2-1 defeat to Anderlecht.
Belgium’s Financial Issues Hit Antwerp
Antwerp had done really well through the first half of the season, sitting 5th and only losing twice through the first 20 games. That good form saw their best players attract interest from Saudi clubs chasing a bargain, but they just about held on. However, the experience of being Antwerp manager continued to be tainted by these messages and the club was losing up to £2m per month.
Antwerp began 2031 with a Jaime brace downing Zulte Waregem 2-0 before a bit of iffy form. They got back on track with a 3-1 win at Saint-Truiden, which had them looking good for the Championship Group as they lead Lommel, who they then drew with 0-0, by 7 points with four games remaining. And victory at Oudenaarde wrapped up a top-six place.
Starting the Championship Group with 50% points left the top six separated by just six points. But any hopes of an outside chance were killed off by losing 3-2 at home to Anderlect, 1-0 at Genk, 2-0 at home to Gent and 3-1 at Club Brugge, in which Maksimovic suffered damaged cruciate ligaments. They finally got going with a 1-0 win at Gent, but found themselves finishing well adrift in 6th place.
Time To Move On From Belgium
Antwerp had a decent enough season under Mahtal, but it was clear they remained a long way short of Belgium’s top teams. Martins led the way with 13 goals in 31 games followed by Jaime, who was probably their star man with 10 goals and 10 assists but a worrying run of form at the end of the season. While wonderkid Halleux was showing plenty of promise after 6 goals and 6 assists.
The financial situation at Antwerp, which spiralled to being £12m in the red by the end of May, was making Mahtal’s position pretty much untenable. So he decided to call it quits after 12 months and resigned at the end of the season. He leaves Antwerp after 43 games, of which he won 16, drew 14 and lost 13, scoring 62 and conceding 45 with a win percentage of just 37%.
Where would Mahtal turn to after a pretty disappointing season in Belgium? Join us on Wednesday to find out!
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