Friday in Eupen, the managing director of number 22 suffered again, particularly when the VAR was called in the 94th minute, at the end of added time, on a potential penalty for the German speakers. “We squeezed our butts until the end. We were made to experience a lot of emotions. I am mixed between two opposing feelings. Of course, there is pride in the work accomplished over the last 5 weeks but also a lot of frustration because it was not our place. We shouldn’t have ended up here.”
The prospect of a nightmare scenario ruled out, Mehdi Bayat spoke to take stock of this exercise “to forget” and already considering a 24/25 vintage which he hopes will be very different.
Mehdi, how do you feel after this rescue?
”It's a relief because in the second half, we had fun scaring each other until the end. The most important thing now is to be able to turn the page.”
Your choice to replace Felice Mazzù with Rik De Mil paid off.
”This maintenance is thanks to the work of Rik and his staff. They have really worked like crazy these last five weeks. Rik brought a real dynamic which created an electric shock. On a human level, it hurt my heart to part with Felice. He will forever remain a son of Charleroi and I hope that next season he will have digested and come to visit us.”
What was the hardest during the last 9 months?
”Louvain's last-second goal against Mechelen during the last day of the classic phase. It's more than an uppercut. There, I was running at 20 km/h and a guy put a baseball bat in my face.”
Without this event, would you have dismissed Mazzù ?
”Certainly not but at the same time, looking back, maybe it was the right thing to do when I see Rik's way of working. In the long term, that’s what we needed.”
Between Biron's missed penalty against RWDM and the Kortrijk opening score, what was the most complicated thing for you to experience in these playdowns?
”All these moments create doubts. And De Mil brought this serenity in these complicated moments, saying that we were going to raise our heads. Little by little, I saw this team evolve game after game and I told myself that there was no longer anything to worry about.”
Did you expect to escape so quickly in this mini-competition?
”I told the guys that we had to be the Club Brugge of the playdowns and that we had to beat everyone. It’s the losers’ competition but Charleroi was above the rest.”
I told the guys that we had to be the Club Brugge of the playdowns.
All's well that ends well, but what assessment can we make of this year?
”A review cannot be done over a season. And when I hear that we've been through 3 seasons, I remember that we finished sixth the first year under Edward Still. The following season, things went less well then Felice revived this team. In the 17 games he coached, we finished third. This year unfortunately, the mayonnaise did not work but take stock of the last ten years.”
But this year's, especially in terms of core construction, is not good.
”We are entrepreneurs. We get our hands dirty and don't criticize others. When I hear an impostor, because there are no other words, who worked for us and who is given a platform, it frustrates me (Editor’s note: Bayat refers to the interview with Sandro Salamone, the former video analyst, in our columns this Friday). The club's recruitment department worked well, reflecting the winter transfer window.”
When I hear an imposter, who worked for us, and who is given a platform, it frustrates me.
It must also be admitted that last summer was not particularly good at the forefront of the attack with Dabbagh.
”In the last two matches, Oday has scored 2 goals. One which was canceled for an offside which did not concern him so he still scored and one in Eupen. He has talent. This player logically should not have come to Charleroi. It's a miracle that we were able to find him.”
It's a miracle that we were able to find Dabbagh.
Your gaze is turned towards the future.
”I learned a lot. Did we make any mistakes? full. Now we have to prepare for next season. We are going to focus on recruitment so that when we resume on June 18, we have a group that is prepared not to play with our emotions again.”
