Sven Vandenbroeck spent seven months without a club. He had been let go by Zulte Waregem in March. I read that on Monday, at the chip shop, in my weekly.
In the meantime, he played golf. I have nothing to say about golf. He saw old friends again. That’s good. He climbed Kilimanjaro at the start of September. It’s high.
He also played padel.
I stopped there for a moment. Padel is tennis that is afraid of walls and has decided to use them. In 1980, we played tennis with a net and space, and when the ball went out, it was out. I’m not criticising. I’m comparing.
Then there is the VDAB (Flanders’ public employment service). He had to report there several times. It suggested he become a PE teacher. “When you’ve had nothing for a certain number of months, they try to put you on a pathway and retrain you anyway,” he told Het Nieuwsblad. He added that he was happy about it, but that football remains his passion.
A pathway. In my day, we called it a trade. The gym teacher had a whistle, a climbing rope and no pathway. Note that I’m not against progress. I’m against this progress.
Silly question, but is padel part of the PE syllabus now?
I did not answer Louise. I did not want to know.
The urge to work again came back after Kilimanjaro. He would rather have a job as close to home as possible. “I’d rather work as close to home as possible,” he said. That, I approve without reservation. I go to the ground when the calendar respects Sunday at three o’clock, and never further than necessary.
Well. It’s the times.
It’s true, we checked: VoetbalPrimeur.be.
