Not in match day squad as Sint-Truiden travel to AS Eupen.
FYI - Muscat is playing with a back 4.
The starting LB for this game is a 23 yr old Japanese guy (Matsubara), who joined the club in February this year and is only playing his 6th game (4th start).
He does have about 5 years experience though in J1-J2 leagues.
Not in match day squad as Sint-Truiden travel to AS Eupen.
1-1 draw.
Eupen (14th) with player sent off at 25 mins, when up 1-0.
Sint-Truiden 7th.
That is an incredible fee if true. Massive cash injection for the club. Easily would be our highest ever transfer.
https://www.ftbl.com.au/news/mckain-to-saudi-arabi...
Transfermarkt has it as 600k Euro.
It would be good if the club came out and said what the deal is, or is:
1: Everyone on holiday.
2: All back staff solely on the wage subsidy and are working minimum hours
3: They don’t want to say as it may impact future government funding
4: The Belgium club don’t want it disclosed?
Most deals like this are never disclosed anyway so not really sure why you're trying to find a reason for it not being public knowledge. People can speculate all they like on figures but the truth is only the nix and the Belgium club will know... oh and a select few others. I'm sure what we got for him was reasonable in todays covid hit market otherwise the nix wouldn't have sold him.
So if so, that would have been one of the 4 options I actually listed above then?
Only searching for the truth - if that’s it then it would be good to have it communicated - not silence
Yes I thought the same actually...
Reminds me of this infamous quote (in Australian football circles) from Pim Verbeek in 2008, that caused a bit of an uproar at the time.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/verbeek-unimpressed-by-a-league-talent-20080123-gdry0a.html
The Socceroos boss, who has been open about his concerns about A-League players' ability to handle international football since coming into the job two months ago, today compared the standard of the local competition as less than that of a training run for a struggling German club.
But Verbeek said three weeks training with Karlsruhe (Kennedy's club) and third-bottom Nuremberg (Beauchamp) would have the duo better prepared for Qatar than if they were in the A-League.
"If you train for there weeks with Nuremberg or with Karlsruhe, I have to be very honest, I still think that's better than playing A-League games," Verbeek said at the announcement of his squad today.
Breaking news:
Reports are that trainings at higher-ranked clubs and leagues are tougher than lower ranked clubs and leagues.
Breaking news:
Reports are that trainings at higher-ranked clubs and leagues are tougher than lower ranked clubs and leagues.
Verbeek was comparing a training period at a German club to actually playing a season in the A-League
Breaking news:
Reports are that trainings at higher-ranked clubs and leagues are tougher than lower ranked clubs and leagues.
I know you're taking the piss here, but I think people might find Cacace's comments interesting in light of the chat from some on here that a mid-table Belgian league team would barely be a step up from the Phoenix.
Maybe it’s not the club but Muscat.
I can imagine him getting players to bust a gut
Trani will bring the skills out in him. A very good assistant for Muscat to have.
It is a slightly confusing one, because it appears the top clubs in Belgium like Standard Liege were interested.
Surely if he joined a better club he would be loaned out to a team like Sint-Truiden anyway. Also, Muscat has only been the manager for less than 6 months. Things can change very quickly if a club is not performing, its entirely possible Muscat and Trani won't be there for an extended period of time.
All in all, I'll be happy if he can get regular game time at Sint-Truiden in the coming months.
I have been away for a while (not in a quarantine hotel!), and not sure if people have commented on this. I am also too lazy to find out, so there you go......
But - I read that Standard Liege was also in for Cacace. Am I the only one disappointed he didn't go there? Seems he mainly went for his current club as he has worked with one of the coaches before?
Standard Liege is a better club, a better team, better stadium, better manager - so why not go there? Standard Liege is a rung above Sint Truiden. If he does well at Sint Truiden, then he might get a transfer to a Liege/Anderlecht/Gent(Genk?) style of club. If he did well at Liege, he could get a transfer to a club in a bigger league.
It just seems like an overly cautious move to plump for Sint Truiden.
I have been away for a while (not in a quarantine hotel!), and not sure if people have commented on this. I am also too lazy to find out, so there you go......
But - I read that Standard Liege was also in for Cacace. Am I the only one disappointed he didn't go there? Seems he mainly went for his current club as he has worked with one of the coaches before?
Standard Liege is a better club, a better team, better stadium, better manager - so why not go there? Standard Liege is a rung above Sint Truiden. If he does well at Sint Truiden, then he might get a transfer to a Liege/Anderlecht/Gent(Genk?) style of club. If he did well at Liege, he could get a transfer to a club in a bigger league.
It just seems like an overly cautious move to plump for Sint Truiden.
I think his key driver was game time, knowing the coaches and the coaches know him means he could be quite frank on this front, while with Standard Liege it would be an unknown. As a young player game time is one of the most important parts to development
How do we know the other guy is a better coach... because he's worked overseas longer, played football for a better team as a player??
The question is, who is the best coach for Libby and he clearly thinks Muscat is.
I have been away for a while (not in a quarantine hotel!), and not sure if people have commented on this. I am also too lazy to find out, so there you go......
But - I read that Standard Liege was also in for Cacace. Am I the only one disappointed he didn't go there? Seems he mainly went for his current club as he has worked with one of the coaches before?
Standard Liege is a better club, a better team, better stadium, better manager - so why not go there? Standard Liege is a rung above Sint Truiden. If he does well at Sint Truiden, then he might get a transfer to a Liege/Anderlecht/Gent(Genk?) style of club. If he did well at Liege, he could get a transfer to a club in a bigger league.
It just seems like an overly cautious move to plump for Sint Truiden.
You're definitely not the only person thinking this but for me it's a complete non-issue tbh. Sint-Truiden isn't a bad team at all, they're a mid-table team as opposed to Liege who are a slightly better mid-table-to-Europe team. I'm not sure where this idea has come from that his career is in jeopardy. If I had to choose between the two, I'd go to the club that made me feel comfortable and promised a more important role in the team (Libby's already one of their couple best players by various sources).
Since 2019, Sint-Truiden has seen players go to the top tiers of Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, China, and Brazil. Their 22 year old LB, who Cacace is a better player than, just moved to 6th-placed Ligue 1 side Reims. Not like they're invisible - they finished 7th in the 18/19 season and have an average age of 24. People treat the Belgian Pro League as a joke league but they're one of the best talent pathways in Europe
The best part of the article is the fact that Libby is cooking for himself. Given his family pedigree for great Italian food (I am a regular at Bella Italia) I'd be pretty sure he's got the skills. I'm sure the STVV boys will be around there a fair bit for a feed.
How do we know the other guy is a better coach... because he's worked overseas longer, played football for a better team as a player??
The question is, who is the best coach for Libby and he clearly thinks Muscat is.
Well, I don't *know* for sure, clearly. But I can see that he has managed at the highest level in France, Spain, and Belgium, and he is currently managing a team/club that is better than Sint Truiden - so I've made a fairly obvious statement.
I get that... but there a lot of managers of big clubs who have very little or no prior experience and are basically hired off of their playing reputation.
Had Muscat being English, it is quite possible he would have secured a better overseas gig, and one a lot sooner.
Played 2nd half of a friendly verus Westerlo (2nd Belgian tier).
Truiden up 1-0 at HT, went on to win 2-1.
https://twitter.com/stvv?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Named in the 23 man squad for their game tonight.
Not listed in match day squad of 18, as S-T (14th) bundle an early 2-1 lead, plus a 1 man advantage to lose 2-3 at home to Antwerp (8th).
Antwerp with winner at 88 mins, having been reduced to 10 men at 72 mins (score then 2-2).
Sometime Melbourne City striker Ritchie de Laet, at LB for the winners. Hasn't scored a goal since his return to Belgium last year.
Sint Truiden playing Cercle Brugge today, kickoff at 6.45. Doesn't look like Libby's made the matchday squad.
Sint Truiden playing Cercle Brugge today, kickoff at 6.45. Doesn't look like Libby's made the matchday squad.
Not listed in match day squad as S-T (15th) travel to Cercle Brugge (12th).
Kylian Hazard playing for Cercle Brugge. Brother/cousin of, I presume.
Brother. There's a fourth brother who's a footballer too, forget his name now.
3-0 loss for Sint Truiden. Were 2-0 down after first half an hour, so guess a long way back from there.
Next up they are away to KV Mechelen on Sunday morning NZ time.
Sint-Truiden now 15th of 18. At this rate Muscat will be sacked before Cacace even gets a chance to start.
Sint-Truiden now 15th of 18. At this rate Muscat will be sacked before Cacace even gets a chance to start.
Never been a fan of this self interested prick/bully. So up himself. Now he's in Europe will quickly be found out. Would he have done as well had he been at the Nix or CCM and not had MV's money and influence?
Sint-Truiden now 15th of 18. At this rate Muscat will be sacked before Cacace even gets a chance to start.
Never been a fan of this self interested prick/bully. So up himself. Now he's in Europe will quickly be found out. Would he have done as well had he been at the Nix or CCM and not had MV's money and influence?
I don't dislike many people in football, but Muscat is one. He ruined at least 2 professional careers as a player (Matty Holmes and Adrian Zahra). His tackle of Zahra was, simply put, disgraceful and the worst tackle I have ever seen in my life.
This was one thing that I feared for Cacace when I heard he signed for Sint-Truiden - that Muscat would get sacked early on, a new coach comes in and Cacace doesn't see much game time. I thought it was the better option to sign for one of the rumoured top Belgian clubs that were interested, as they would loan him out to get experience at a smaller club anyway.
Fingers crossed it all works out though and Muscat starts playing Cacace. He's certainly good enough at this level imo.
Think some of you need to give Libby a chance to settle and get comfortable in a new environment have no doubt his ability will come through.
Think some of you need to give Libby a chance to settle and get comfortable in a new environment have no doubt his ability will come through.
Yes, I have no doubt that Libby has the potential to be a top quality fullback and perform in top European leagues. The only concern I had was with Muscat really, but fingers crossed Libby will get some starts under his belt soon.
