Swiss Wicky was also serious option

OTHER Besides Ryan Mason (T2 Tottenham), Swiss Raphael Wicky was also a serious candidate to become Anderlecht's new coach. He too travelled to Brussels and had intense talks with the Anderlecht top brass, but finally the choice fell to David Hubert.


The 47-year-old Wicky played for Werder Bremen, Atletico Madrid and Hamburg. In recent years, he was coach of FC Basel, Chigago Fire and Young Boys Bern. With the latter club, he became champion. Wicky also stands for attacking football. Talks were held with Mark van Bommel and Vladimir Ivic, but these avenues never became concrete.

But because both Mason and Wicky did not tick all the boxes, Anderlecht finally opted for David Hubert. On Tuesday, the Anderlecht top brass consulted with Hubert. The latter made an ardent plea to give him a full chance. Mason and Hubert are then in the scales with each other. When Mason's name leaked out in the press, there were a lot of negative reactions from analysts and supporters. At that, chairman Wouter Vandenhaute and CEO Sports Jesper Fredberg decide to go full steam ahead with Hubert.

Hubert does not yet have a Pro License diploma, but his assistants Roel Clement and Jan Michaelsen do. There is a chance that another experienced coach will be added to the staff.