The turnaround at Helmond Sport has started, at least if it is up to the new trainer Sven Swinnen. He succeeds Wil Boessen, who was fired this week. Helmond Sport is last in the Kitchen Champion Division. Five crucial questions for the new Belgian trainer.
1. Who is the savior of Helmond Sport anyway?
”After I played for KV Mechelen myself, I became a youth coach for the club. In fifteen years of service I have trained all youth teams, from the under 8 to the under 21. In 2012 I became assistant coach of the main force. I did that for over eight years and thanks to the collaboration between Helmond Sport and Mechelen I ended up here. And now he has moved on to the position of head coach.”
2. Isn’t it late to debut as a head coach at 47?
”No, I have consciously chosen to gain a lot of experience as an assistant coach. I could have been head coach before, but it was never the right time in my career for me. The cooperation and the warmth of this club made the choice a lot easier.”
3. What were the reactions to the news that you became head coach?
”I’ve had hundreds of messages from former youth players, trainers, students, you name it. In Belgium I have built up a good name in football, so you know a lot of people. They were all super positive.”
4. What needs to change at Helmond Sport?
“It sounds a bit cliché, but I have seen that there is enough quality at this club. Everyone has their own vision of the game. Only now it makes no sense to change everything that my predecessor has put down. Step by step I want to adjust a number of things on a technical and tactical level to my way of football.”
5. Will you save the season in the fourth period?
“My first goal is of course to transfer my football principles to the group of players. Allowing both the collective and the individual players to develop. Only after a few weeks can we see what can still be achieved. But it can certainly be emphasized that we have a team of an excellent level. It would be crazy if I don’t dare to express a sporting objective with that. So I’m not lying that we want to do good business in the fourth period.”
Helmond Sport has also been reprimanded by the professional association Coaches Professional Football (CBV) because of the change of trainers. According to the union, Swinnen should only have been on the field after all matters with the dismissed trainer Boessen had been settled. The latter is not the case. Guus Hiddink, chairman of CBV, calls Helmond Sport’s actions ‘unacceptable’.
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