It was only the very slow opening half of the season, things improved dramatically after the managerial change in November, that denied Kortrijk place in the top six after 30 rounds, with the Reds also unfortunate to be eliminated at the semi-final stage of the Belgian Cup, despite deserving to have a shot at the trophy.
Probably the most important thing coach Anastasiou did during the summer months was to resign the crowd-favourite Teddy Chevalier, with the French striker becoming the joint top goalscorer of the league by the end of the season and definitely being the most trustworthy forward outlet of Kortrijk.
Anastasiou saw his men winning two of their first three games, but then they went on eleven consecutive rounds without another success and after losing 0:2 against strugglers Mechelen in round 14 the gaffer was sacked.
De Boeck took charge straight away and simply by changing the system and starting to use midfielder D’Haene as a full-back and putting defender Makarenko in the heart of the midfield the results improved vastly. Kortrijk won four of the six matches left before the winter break and they welcomed 2018 established in the middle of the table and hungry to push for a late charge on the top six positions.
Kortrijk also enjoyed very good run in the Belgian Cup and they were really unlucky to lose their semi-final double-header vs. Genk early in 2018, with the Reds being the better team in both these clashes but failing to convert the majority of their chances.
The first match of the new year was lost, but the Reds won four and drew one of their next five games and come round 28 they entered the top six. Unfortunately for Kortrijk back-to-back narrow defeats against Zulte Waregem and Club Brugge at the end of the regular campaign saw them missing on Play-off I by just two points.
During the play-offs the Reds won six of their ten matches in the group, but as they lost both games vs. Zulte Waregem they finished in second place and were unable to qualify for Europe, despite showing lots of promise from November onwards.
