Coach: Georges Leekens (Belgium - since 20 September 2001)

Dutch League 
Record:  11-15-8    (33 - 45)
Rank:  13th, 41 points
Last Result: 0-0 tie at Fortuna Sittard, May 5
Streak:  Tied 1

With a boring 0-0 tie at already relegated Fortuna Sittard, SV
Roda JCs most disappointing season ever finally came to an end.
With six clean sheets in their last seven games, they won back
some of their dignity and self-respect at the end of the season.
But even a 1-0 away win at Milan AC in the UEFA Cup could not
hide all the problems they had all season - on and off the
pitch. New coach Jan van Dijk was fired after only five League
games. His successor Georges Leekens has also thrown in the
towl. His successor is FC Den Bosch coach Wiljan Vloet. Last
season, Roda finished 4th with 59 points (and scored 59 goals).
Like last season, when he scored 19 times, Greek striker Yannis
Anastasiou was their club top scorer with 10 League goals
(although he missed the last six games through an injury).
Despite their poor results, the average home attendance in their
19,500 capacity Parkstad Limburg Stadium went up from 13,300 to
14,517. Veteran midfielder 'Mr. Roda JC' Eric van der Luer (37)
will retire; defender Igor Tomasic will join fresh Belgian
Champions RC Genk and forward Dave Zafarin signed a four-year
contract with De Graafschap. Other key players like goalkeeper
Zeljko Kalac, defender Regillio Vrede, midfielders Garba Lawal,
Marc Nygaard and Bernard Tchoutang and forward Tom Soetaers have
made public that they want to leave the club as soon as
possible. Two new faces in Kerkrade next season so far:
Brazilian midfielders Sergio and Cristiano - both from NAC
Breda.

st 05-11-02 20:55 et