The former Belgian international’s first appointment as a manager at a professional club has ended in disappointment
Super Eagles midfielder Raphael Onyedika will be looking to work under another management after Club Brugge sacked manager Carl Hoefkens following a string of poor results.
Club Brugge only appointed Carl Hoefkens in May elevating him from a youth coach and a member of the coaching staff.
The former Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion defender played a crucial role in getting Brugge to sign Raphael Onyedika from FC Midtjylland in the summer.
A big fan of the Nigerian’s style of play, Hoefkens promoted Onyedika straight into the club’s first eleven, deploying the 21-year-old midfielder in the UEFA Champions League and the Belgian Pro League.
The reward was instant as Onyedika provided the solid base for Club Brugge to flourish in Europe and make it past the group stage for the first time in the Champions League era.
The results on the domestic scene were inconsistent, though, with the Belgian champions winning only ten of 18 league matches. Brugge trail leaders KRC Genk by twelve points only midway through the campaign.
Even more worrying is the FCB’s poor form of just two wins in their last eleven games in all competitions.
Disappointingly, Brugge crashed out of the Belgian Cup on Wednesday, losing 4-1 at home to Sint-Truidense. Onyedika featured for the entire duration of that encounter.
But the clincher for Carl Hoefkens was Club Brugge’s surprising 1-1 draw to lowly OH Leuven, a game in which Onyedika also played in, receiving a yellow card in the 85th minute.
And the Blauw-Zwart authorities have decided to terminate the appointment of the 44-year-old.
Under Hoefkens, Onyedika made 12 appearances in the Jupiler Pro League and six in the UEFA Champions League.
