Before getting to the heart of the matter, we prepared a little quiz for him on the seven matches he played in Anderlecht. The very first? “6-0 with Charleroi. I was still 17 years old. Iachtchouk scores three goals for me and from a free kick from Walem, the ball goes under me. A mistake, but you don’t have to talk about it. “ The 7-1 with Mechelen? “My first match after my back surgery. Frutos gave me three. Nico scored several against me. I played in white that evening. At the end of the match, my jersey was still white. But I caught seven.” And his only victory? “0-1 with Standard in the Cup. Jova’s goal. Or Axel?” From the Serbian on a Devil’s service.
“Equally virulent tifos at Standard”
After this round of observation, it’s time for hot topics. Starting with the anti-Fox fans. “I’m not crazy. I didn’t expect to be invited to a barbecue. I knew there would be criticism and I accept it. As long as they remain within the limits of respect. It’s up to me to show that I deserve to have been appointed technical director of Anderlecht. When I started as technical director at Standard, when recruiting players was difficult, I saw equally virulent criticism. But the results followed, we won the Cup and we almost won the double without Vormer’s hand. Then we were able to sell players for a lot of money and the train was off. My presence alongside the management of Standard during the last Clasico? I was there at the invitation of Anderlecht. I had already spoken with Wouter Vandenhaute on the day of Belgium – France. He had tested the waters to find out if I would be interested in coming to Anderlecht. But in fact, before that, we met by chance in a Limburg restaurant where I live.”
“I can’t help it if I frustrated Standard fans”
Standard supporters consider him a coward. “If there are Standard fans who are frustrated, I can’t do anything about it. I left Standard six years ago, not six days ago. And I had to leave, because they had Preud’homme in my place and I didn’t agree with his recruitment. The club also filed a lawsuit against me: after Veljkovic’s statements, Venanzi became a civil party, even if I did not leave on bad terms with him. Should I continue my career at a club that is not a rival of Standard? Sorry. Signing for Anderlecht is not a choice against Standard. But I wanted to get involved in the Anderlecht project. I have seen people criticize me for having been to Sclessin three times this season. Correct. But I have been to Genk four times. And twice in Mechelen. I’m a football fan.”
Olivier Renard presents his project for Anderlecht: “My past at Standard? I give 100% for my employer”
“We only talk about Footgate to my children”
And then there’s the Clean Hands thing. Subject that Renard wanted to address himself. “My week was complicated. Not because of the reactions of supporters, but because my role in Footgate was talked about every day, while more than 100 other people were cited in this file. Did I go to Montreal to escape this affair? Bullshit. And my skin is waterproof like a K-way… I know how to put my emotions into perspective. But my parents and my children, on the other hand… My children have returned to school. We didn’t talk to them about Anderlecht, but about Footgate. It’s boring for me. I know what I did and what I didn’t do. I was offered a plea deal, but unlike many others, I refused to pay. Why would I accept? I have a lot of evidence that shows the truth is not what people say. No one has contacted me for five years! I don’t even have the right to defend myself! If I could do it, normally, after a quarter of an hour, someone would say to me: ‘Mr. Fox, you can go.'”
“I was cleared in the Edmilson affair”
Renard mentions another file in which he was singled out. “This is the Edmilson file (which had only been sold to Qatar for 2 million, thus reducing the share of the pie that went to Sint-Truiden, a club with which Standard did not get along). The Standard, Bruno Venanzi and I were accused in this case, but the case was less publicized. However, the amount of fraud was much greater. In the Edmilson file, I was summoned. I also had proof. And there, I was cleared. It’s easy to accuse people…”
“I’m not Harry Potter, but…”
But we prefer to talk football with Renard. He came to recruit better than Jesper Fredberg. “I’m not Harry Potter who buys a player for 1 million and sells it for 20 the next day. But my trademark is to find relatively unknown players who bring sporting and then financial added value. I want to buy a 4 million player when it still costs 200,000 euros. Without wanting to criticize my predecessor, of course I will use our scouting. Otherwise, we are lost. The player profile I want? It doesn’t just take foreigners. We also need Belgians and guys who have purple DNA. And above all we must not buy players who could block young people from our academy. MLS players? This market is more and more interesting. The players are cheaper there and there is power and speed, an element which becomes more important than technique. Especially in defense when we play high as David Hubert demands. Under Riemer, it was more of a reaction game. In terms of releases, we have to sell, like any Belgian club. But I’ve already been made to understand that we don’t have to do it in a hurry. We are not obliged to sell in January, although this was the case in the past. Financially, the club has become stable and healthy again. I also want to reassure the players who came via Fredberg and Riemer: they are not on a departure list.”
Finds, address book provided and scouting more than stats: what is the Olivier Renard method?
“No, I won’t wear earbuds.”
Renard’s working method is therefore opposed to that of Fredberg. “Earbuds? No… That’s not my style. But I don’t know if Jesper was talking to his wife or the coach (laughs). No, let me be clear: I am a sports director and not a coach. I give the ingredients to the coach, he makes the soup. I don’t care if a player comes late, it’s between him and the coach. I don’t care about the playing system. As long as we play the Anderlecht style, without long balls. Of course I will talk about reinforcements with David Hubert. If we want a right back, I want to know if he wants a profile like Dani Alves or Wasilewski…”
“Coosemans and Rits? Stories from the past…”
Renard also wanted to dispel misunderstandings concerning two Anderlecht residents, Colin Coosemans and Mats Rits. In his Malinois era, Coosemans felt wronged by the treatment of Renard, who allegedly favored Moris and Gillet. “We had a drink together after the match against Kortrijk and we laughed about it. I was a young sports director and he was only 21 and not mature at all. The outside world digs up these stories, but they’re from ten years ago.” And Rits who had lost his place in Mechelen during the reign of Renard? “Rits himself knows that his first two seasons in Mechelen were catastrophic. He was even whistled by the fans. It was not the Rits of Bruges or Anderlecht. He came back from Ajax with ‘an Ajax mentality’. My task was to put together the best team possible and Rits was not part of it. I sometimes have clashes with a player, but it happens three times out of a hundred. There are many more with whom I keep excellent contacts, like Hanni who I went to find in D2 in Türkiye. Or Wanyama from Tottenham who didn’t go to Bruges who wanted to offer 10 million but who came to Montreal for zero euros and who played there for five seasons…”
People who know him are amazed by Renard’s network. It was he who appointed Thierry Henry as coach in Montreal. “It’s my strength to have a lot of contacts. A lot of people have called me since I’ve been at Anderlecht.” One of the people who could be of great service to Anderlecht is Luciano D’Onofrio, a friend of Renard. Hey, didn’t the two eat together to talk about a return to Standard? “This story irritated me. We met before Belgium – France in Düsseldorf and we went to eat pizza together. We didn’t even talk about Standard.”
