Three years ago I was managing Welsh minnows… now I’m on the brink of Europa Conference League final glory
BELGIAN coach Nicky Hayen has gone from managing Welsh minnows Haverfordwest County to the Europa Conference League semi-finals in just TWO YEARS.
Brugge head into Thursday’s second leg with Fiorentina trailing 3-2 as they look to book their spot in Athens on May 29.
And the man leading them into the match has had some journey to this point.
Path to Brugge
Hayen, 43, took caretaker charge of the club in March following the sacking of Ronny Deila – the man who replaced Scott Parker.
It was a huge task for the young coach – who was in charge of Cymru Premier side Haverfordwest County just 21 months earlier.
Hayen, who spent his playing career in the lower leagues in Belgium and the Netherlands, worked for six months with the Welsh club and helped them avoid relegation.
In June 2022, he then left them to become head coach of Club Brugge’s U23 side.
This left him perfectly poised to assume the vacant first-team role when Deila was dismissed.
Sensational run of form
He has not disappointed, going unbeaten in seven league games, winning six.
Brugge now sit top of the Belgian league with just three matches left in the Championship round.
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Hayen also masterminded a 3-0 aggregate win over PAOK in the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League, while his only defeat since taking charge came in the 3-2 loss to Fiorentina in the first leg of the semis.
If they get past Fiorentina, Brugge will play Olympiacos or Aston Villa in the final.
Liverpool manager in waiting?
Hayen, who has played a 3-5-2 formation elsewhere but turned to a back four in recent months, is now being tipped for some of the biggest jobs in Europe.
And journalist Jan Mulder believes he will be manager of Liverpool “within two years”.
That is despite Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot preparing to take over from Jurgen Klopp.
Mulder said: “Nicky Hayen will be festively appointed manager of Club Brugge on the day of the Belgian championship and will put in a series of games in the Champions League next year, attracting the attention of Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester.
“Nasser Al-Khelaifi of Paris Saint-Germain also joins the fight for his signature at the last minute.
“Personally, I think that the great Nicky Hayen will replace Arne Slot as manager of Liverpool within two years.”
Hayen spoke back in 2021 about the style of play he likes his teams to adopt.
He said: “My style of play is that I like to build up from behind, I like to play combination football.
“But, first of all, you need to have the players to play this style of football.
“As I said, I’ve seen a team that when they have the confidence, they can do it, but if they don’t have the confidence they don’t, and won’t do it, because they don’t want the ball, and then this is my first priority, and this is also what I have in my character.
“Mentality is the first thing, you can play nice football to win games, but if you don’t have the mentality, if you don’t fight for each other, if you don’t work for every single piece of ground, then you don’t win games.”