Marked for Michaël Heylen
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 50. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Dec 2026
Add another name to the list: Melgar have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Romelu Carrasco. The answer from KV Oostende has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Leander Openda commits to KV Oostende for another 1 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The award goes to Thorgan De Bruyne, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Match5 Dec 2026
Point won or two lost for KV Oostende?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against KV Mechelen? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
5.79 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leander Openda and KV Oostende agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Michaël Heylen knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michaël Heylen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Leander Fellaini keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KV Oostende say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market23 Nov 2026
Zinho Kompany hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Oostende can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Zinho Alderweireld was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michaël Heylen, and the manager let it.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 7.71 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, KV Oostende had the best player on the pitch.
Match21 Nov 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Racing Genk came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
5.56 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thorgan Nainggolan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Oct 2026
A one-man rearguard from Michy Openda
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Lois Januzaj: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Oostende have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Eden De Bruyne. 1‑0 against Mouscron, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
The goals keep arriving from Axel Kompany’s exile
3 goals in 4 games at Santa Clara — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at KV Oostende updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Zinho Alderweireld was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Westerlo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.86 on the card, and the KV Oostende support went home talking about one name.
Market14 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. KV Oostende will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. KV Oostende have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market24 Aug 2026
Romelu Boyata hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Oostende can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Michaël Heylen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑2 to KV Mechelen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. KV Oostende lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Axel Mertens
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Radja Chadli commits to KV Oostende for another 3 years.
Market24 Aug 2026
No place for Michy Lukaku in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Michy Lukaku has his answer from KV Oostende; what he does with it is the next window’s story.