jordan Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 From Sky Belgian club Racing Genk have a fresh enquiry for Odd Grenland striker Olivier Occean. The Canadian international has been the Norwegian club's top goalscorer the past two seasons and was involved in his country's ill-fated World Cup qualifying campaign in the Concacaf region this past autumn. The former Southern Connecticut State University player is thought to be interested in playing at a higher level in Europe and a move to Belgium's Jupiler Liga might be an option for the Brossard, Quebec native. It is thought Odd Grenland may have dropped their price for Occean after Genk were initially turned away with an enquiry earlier in the season. Occean joined Odd Grenland two seasons ago after deciding not to sign for Major League Soccer side New York/New Jersey MetroStars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 Yeah, he only played one season, so the info's wrong. I think he'd be better served staying in Norway or moving to a bigger club than going to Genk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 sporting.be had the following to say about Genk's interest: Le club est toujours sous le charme de Olivier Occean, un attaquant du club norvégien Odd Grenland. Genk avait auparavant refusé une offre jugée trop élevée. Occean est un international canadien qui a déjà inscrit 14 buts cette saison. I think this would be a good move for Occean. A little bit bigger club in a little bit better league. If he had the same success here as in Norway he would be on a fast track into France or Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 Genk is rather a smallish club though and I don't think he'd get much more exposure in Belgium. It might be easier for him to repeat his exploits in Norway and if he does so, he'll get serious interest from bigger clubs. Basically, I don't think that it'd be worth it for him to transfer to Genk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 Genk is a larger club than you think. They won the league a couple of years ago and played in Champions League making it to the group stage. They regularly get over 20 000 fans for their games and have a nice, modern stadium seating almost 25 000. Belgium is a better league than Norway and is much more respected in France and Germany. It is also much easier for an interested club to come scout him in neighbouring Belgium than in Norway. It is always risky changing clubs but if he could move to Belgium and have the same impact he would convince some bigger clubs he is the real deal. He would also probably get a much better salary as Genk has more money than Odd and he is no longer some unknown guy who did well enough in a tournament to take a chance on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 Compare the stadiums: Odd Genk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 he must feel like he's back in canada when he plays home games for odd hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballboy Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 I definately believe that playing for Genk in the Belgian league will provide Occean a better/bigger platform to launch himself into the spotlight. Sure, the Begian league is not the top league in Europe and Genk is not your top top club but in my eyes, both of them are "upgrades" from Odd, no disrespect to the latter. It's all about taking things step by step and I believe this should be a positive move for Occean to test himself against better competitions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 So Genk may pay for Occean, interesting. I read an old post from Allan Douglas after he saw Occean play in Vancouver last summer. He said Occean was "akward". Other people have said he is not as skillful as his teammates. I saw him miss an easy goal scoring chance last summer against Hearts because he could not control the ball when it was passed to him. He's big and strong, and decent in the air, reminds me a bit of Garrret Kutsch who also played in Belgium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrennanFan Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 I was under the impression that Occean was far beyond the level of a guy like Kusch. Being the top scorer for a team in Norway is no small feat. I haven't seen much of Occean, but i thought he was going to be the real deal, not just another Kusch, hopefully he will make an impact in Genk, if he goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Occean is far beyond the level of Kusch, you can see this by watching him for five minutes. Kusch played in the lower divisions of Belgium, Sweden and Norway without much success other than one game in the Swedish second tier in which he scored a record five goals which was more than double his output for the whole year. That Kusch played 22 games (one goal) for Canada is a testament to how bad our striker situation was at the time. Kusch never played at a level comparable to the Norwegian top tier and never scored 14 goals in a season even in the lower leagues that he played in. Occean may or may not turn into a top level striker but to compare him to Kusch is ridiculous as he has already far surpassed his accomplishments. analyst I have the impression you are constantly trying to belittle those accomplishments our players or teams have achieved in order to support a very negative opinion you have of Canadian soccer. Noone here is saying we are great but when we have success at the U-20 level or a player has success at his club level give them a bit of credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Latest on Occean situation is that Genk is negotiating with him. Reading between the lines this could mean that the clubs have agreed on a transfer fee and that now Genk has to agree on a contract with Occean. Enfin, des négociations sont entamées avec Oliver Occean, du club norvégien Odd Grenland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bxl Boy Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Where did you read that (and when) This morning, Genk presented three new players Occean isn't one of them It seemed he was still too expansive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 It was in sport.be today. It is current as yesterday they had other information. Here is the link: http://www.sport.be/fr/jupilerleague/0405/ploegennieuws/?comp=2041#BRU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luis_Rancagua Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Genk espère finaliser les négociations avec Tom Soetaers ce lundi. L'ancien Diable Rouge peut quitter l'Ajax et pourrait être loué. L'ancien international espoir croate Tomislav Mikulic, un défenseur âgé de 23 ans actuellement à Osijek, pourrait aussi rejoindre le Racing. Un accord serait également proche avec l'attaquant serbe Boban Stojanovic (25 ans, à l'Etoile Rouge, prêté à Borac Cacak). Enfin, des négociations sont entamées avec Oliver Occean, du club norvégien Odd Grenland. here's the translation: Genk hopes to finalize negotiations with Tom Soetaers this Monday. The old Red Devil can leave Ajax and could be on loan. The old international Croatian Tomislav Mikulic, a 23 years old defender currently in Osijek, could also join Racing. An agreement would be also close with the Serb attacker Boban Stojanovic (25 years, with Red Star, lent to Borac Cacak). Lastly, negotiations with Oliver Occean have started with his Norwegian club Odd Grenland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Grizzly, I wrote that Occean reminds me a bit of Kusch, I didn't say he was the same as Kusch. I think Occean is better, but I am concerned that he wasted prime scoring chances because his ball control skills let him down. I am not the only person with that opinion of Occean, please check Alan Douglas's old post. As for having a very negative opinion of Canadian soccer, I have never posted anything critical about skillful Canadian players and in the thread about Jamie Peters I was complimentary to him. I have tried to be balanced but my posts may not appear balanced because Canada is #90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Soetaers joins Racing Genk from Ajax BRUSSELS, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Belgian international midfielder Tom Soetaers has joined Racing Genk from Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam, the club said on Tuesday. "I am happy to sign for an ambitious club with great fans," the 24-year-old told reporters at a news conference. "The situation at Ajax was not impossible for me but very difficult. I want to play and find some pleasure in football. "Genk is a warm club and Ajax Amsterdam is a factory. I was only a number there, here I have a name." Soetaers, who has played six times for Belgium, joined Ajax on a four-year deal in August 2003 but made only 21 appearances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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