The Great Escape almost complete by Freyr Alexandersson at Cardiff City’s sister club Kortrijk despite Vincent Tan’s disinterest | OneFootball

When Freyr Alexandersson took over as head coach of Kortrijk, many questioned his decision. The Icelandic head coach left what had been a successful time with Danish side Lyngby BK to join the side rock bottom of the Belgian Pro League. After 20 games, Kortrijk had mustered just 10 points. They were 11 points behind RWDM when Alexandersson took over. Fast forward 15 matches, and Kortrijk have overtaken the Brussels side to sit third bottom in the Pro League. Going into the final matchday of the relegation play-offs, the side have a chance of securing a spot in the relegation final against a Challenger Pro League team and a shot at redemption.

Alexandersson deserves immense credit for turning things around. Like Eupen, Kortrijk have spent this season operating with an owner who has no interest in funding the side. Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan has been trying, and come close a couple of times, to selling the club. He was almost dupped by the Kaminski Group last summer and has since struggled to find a buyer. As a result, Alexandersson has had to work with a tight budget. In 15 matches, he is averaging 1.40 points per match, the same as he was averaging in Denmark with Lyngby.

Kortrijk now sit a point above RWDM after their huge 1-0 win over Eupen at the weekend, relegating the Pandas in the process. Their final match of the season is against Charleroi away from home. The Zebras are already safe and did Kortrijk a favour this weekend with a 3-1 win over RWDM in Brussels. Kortrijk just have to match or better RWDM’s result to give themselves the second shot at survival. There they will face either Lommel or Deinze, who drew their first leg of the Challenger Pro League play-off final.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson