'Success is to stay up': Aussie coach lands top job in Belgium

Michael Valkanis has become the latest Australian to land an overseas head coaching role, appointed until the end of the season to rescue Belgian Pro League strugglers KAS Eupen from the spectre of relegation.

The ex-Melbourne City, PEC Zwolle and Greece national team assistant arrived at the Qatari-owned club - also home to Socceroos midfielder James Jeggo - in mid-January as assistant to Stefan Krämer.

Valkanis head coach appointment

Australian Michael Valkanis has been handed the reins at Belgium top flight battlers KAS Eupen until the end of the season.
Valkanis has earned his reputation mainly as an accomplished assistant, though he did have spells as a head coach at Adelaide United and Melbourne City.
If Eupen can beat the drop he's likely to be offered a long-term contract by the Jupiler Pro League club.

More news on Aussies Abroad can be found on FTBL.

Valkanis was immediately cast into the role of leading man, with Kramer struck down by Covid - and he picked up successive draws.

The German’s seven-month reign was cut short by his sacking last week, two games after resuming first team duties.

It came off the back of a 17-game winless run which has left the Pandas perched in 15th - just four points away from the galling prospect of a possible relegation playoff.

Valkanis has six regular season games left to turn Eupen’s fortunes around.

His his first game in charge against second-placed Club Brugge at the weekend brought a much improved performance from his confidence-sapped team, but still left them beaten 3-1.

To lighten the mood, there’s a Belgian Cup semi-final second leg against giants Anderlecht on the agenda, with the Pandas drawing the first leg 2-2 at home.

Next up, though, Eupen travel to face league leading Union Saint-Gilloise at the weekend.

“There’s been a few underlying issues at the club, the head coach was let go and I was told to step up to take the reins,” Valkanis told FTBL.

“I guess they saw how I worked in the time the head coach wasn’t there and perhaps that played a part in the decision to appoint me.

“It came as a surprise to me and we hit the ground running with a big game against Brugge. We changed some things around and I think (despite the result) we had a really good performance.

“Lots of energy and intensity - and I saw a lot of things to build on.”

And build they must, with Valkanis needing to quickly galvanise a club on the slide.

“There’s been a lot of negativity around the team but we set a benchmark in our approach to the Brugge match and if we maintain that we’ll be heading in the right direction,” added Valkanis.

“It’s a huge challenge when you come from the A-League where there’s no such thing as relegation. But I’ve liked the response of the players and I’m feeling really positive.

“Mathematically we probably need two wins to be safe but I want to win every game.

“That’s why we took the match to Brugge and had them on the back foot for long periods.

"It was nice to get complimented by their coach Alfred Schreuder, who was the assistant at Ajax when I was at PEC Zwolle and number two to Ronald Koeman at Barcelona.

“I haven’t had a pre-season to work on certain things but from experience at Adelaide United (as player and coach) I know that team spirit and building relationships can be more important than any tactics you might have.”

With three games now under his belt since his move from Greek side Aris, Valkanis dubbed Jeggo an instant success.

“He was one of our best against Brugge and is providing a bit of leadership in the midfield,” he explained. “He’s a good communicator and is a big part of our pressing game.”

Valkanis isn’t going to let the pressure of the club's predicament affect his approach, explaining: “I’m not dwelling on having to do really well to sign that next contract.

“I’m not thinking that far forward - for me it’s not even game by game, it’s really day by day and trying to make players that one per cent better.

“Success for us will be to stay up and there’s also a beautiful opportunity there to make the cup final. That would be a great story at the end.”