At Standard de Liège since 1998, at first with the U6 (youth, scouting and contracts), he quickly took over from Tomislav Ivić (with Christian Labarbe) for 2000–01.

He had little success as first team coach, and was fired on 14 September 2002, after domestic defeat against Club Bruges and a catastrophic first season.

Adored by some supporters who appreciated the results gained under his leadership, reviled by others who disliked his gameplay and recourse to a long-ball system, he left his post in May 2005, before being named a few weeks later after the club failed to find a replacement.

Although the club had qualified for the first time for the third preliminary round of the Champions League, he was hounded by supporters after the last game of the season, where they failed to win their first championship since 1983.

On 10 February 2010, due to bad results at the club, he ended the contract of László Bölöni, Dominique D'Onofrio took over as head coach of Standard until June 2010.