Karel Geraerts is a name circulating as a potential new manager at Leicester. He has left Reims after the season ended outside the promotion places. His assistant Tim Smolders is also leaving.
Reims landed in a 6th position in the French Ligue 2.
Karel Geraerts might be an unfamilier name with most Leicester fans, but his background is one very interesting. He joined Reims last summer on a two year deal, with one aim, to bring this club back to Ligue 1.
Geraerts ended the season with a 5-3 win at home to Pau.
Le Stade de Reims annonce dans un communiqué la fin de la collaboration entre le club et Karel Geraerts ainsi que pour son adjoint Tim
— Stade de Reims News (@SdR_News51) May 14, 2026
Smolders. ⚽️🔴⚪️⬇️
➡️ https://t.co/XoP8zKq0h8 pic.twitter.com/QZ6fITMlwO
The Belgian played for OH Leuven from 2011 to 2014, adding up 79 league games, scoring 13 goals. He is best known as a great midfielder for Standard Liege and Club Brugge in earlier and previous periods. He finished playing career with Charleroi.
Gerearts is also a former Belgian international, playing 20 times, scoring 4 goals, for his nation, from 2005 to 2009.
Before his time in management at Reims, he has been in charge at German club Schalke 04 and Belgian club Union SG.
Karel Geraerts favors a highly structured, defensively stable approach built on tactical flexibility and aggressive intensity. He anchors his systems in defensive solidity—often utilizing a back-three or back-five—to create a secure foundation before launching quick, transitional attacks.
This manager looks different from previous men employed by this football club, but we just have to wait and see if this will be happening or if it is just another notice about a manager being out of work. We have of course in recent years seen Leicester change their approach from season to season, depending on what the trends are.
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