Disappointing Buffalos

Niklas Dorsch and Tim Kleindienst certainly envisaged life at their new club going differently. The duo left German second-tier outfit 1. FC Heidenheim in the summer for KAA Gent, an ambitious Belgian club that has made a name for itself in international club competitions in recent years. But things have not gone according to plan for Gent in the second half of 2020: the Buffalos are languishing in 13th place in the league after 15 rounds of matches and have lost all five of their Europa League games – a disappointing record for the top seeds in the group.

The results crisis has prompted chaos at the club, and there have already been three changes of coach this season. The most recent of those came a week ago when Wim de Decker, who oversaw the reverse fixture with TSG, was fired. Prior to that, the Belgian side had parted ways with Jess Thorup and László Bölöni. Hein Vanhaezebrouck took over the reins ahead of their last game.

But even Vanhaezbrouck, who has previously had two stints as Gent coach (2009 and 2014-2017), could not guide the Buffalos back to winning ways: they were beaten 2-1 by Oostende in the Liga KV at the weekend – their fourth competitive defeat in a row. Having finished in the top six in 14 of the past 16 seasons, Gent now find themselves looking down the table rather than up. They are currently only five points clear of the relegation spots.

The Gent fans will be hoping the chaos is over for now. They want their side to make a respectable exit from the Europa League against TSG Hoffenheim, and not become the fifth team in history to be knocked out of the group without a point. Then they will then be turning their attentions back to the league and looking to rediscover their former selves in the coming weeks. The hope is that the first step on that journey will come at the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim.

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