“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beerschot can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Beerschot have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Cercle Brugge wanted more than $96.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Beerschot
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Antwerp have kept their man, and Beerschot go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Timothy Nainggolan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Fedde Leysen 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.
$96.0K on the table at Cercle Brugge. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Anas Haj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Dender will make the call about William Harhouz this week. Beerschot have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
America de Cali have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.06 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Beerschot know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Anas Haj is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Beerschot asked and Club Brugge said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
Ibe Hautekiet is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I watch every Beerschot game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Francs Borains runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nick Shinton trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohamed Anas Haj signs something — a contract at Beerschot or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and RAAL La Louviere waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Beerschot is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Artur Júnior has just signed for Beerschot, and for once the answer mattered.
Club Brugge wanted more than $57.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Waniss Taïbi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robin Mirisola trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The offer from VfL Wolfsburg for Robin Mirisola was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beerschot can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at KV Kortrijk is saying, and nobody at Beerschot is enjoying the guessing.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
$57.0K on the table at Club Brugge. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Standard Liege have kept their man, and Beerschot go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Beerschot, and it is not being withdrawn.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Beerschot have paid $1.0M for Filip Stevanović, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Beerschot asked and Dender said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Filip Stevanović from Lommel for $1.0M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Anas Haj is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Beerschot have made the call to Kawasaki Frontale. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Beerschot know which stage they are at.
Beerschot asked and KV Kortrijk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The fee is $79.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Cercle Brugge drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
An average of 7.06 in a first team he is several years too young for. Beerschot have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Waniss Taïbi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Ibe Hautekiet's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The offer from Anderlecht for Robin Mirisola was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beerschot can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Cercle Brugge is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Beerschot had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olympic Charleroi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Union SG paid $770.0K and Beerschot took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Anas Haj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beerschot asked and Club Brugge said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The offer from Anderlecht for Mohamed Anas Haj was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Beerschot, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohamed Anas Haj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dender have kept their man, and Beerschot go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Ilias Splinter again, and this time the name on the line is Francs Borains. Beerschot are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Beerschot are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Genki Haraguchi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Mathematically certain, and nobody in this town is going to bed early. Whatever else happened this season, it finishes a division above where it started.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bryan Van Hove will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Beerschot the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Beerschot had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Fedde Leysen 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.
26 appearances and 2 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Waniss Taïbi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A season average of 7.06 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Beerschot know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Genki Haraguchi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout22 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Ibe Hautekiet's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Beerschot, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 120 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Beerschot have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lois Chadli has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Adnan Chadli has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Thorgan Tielemans has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Laurent Kompany has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
The dugoutBryan Van Hove asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 130 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beerschot can pretend not to have heard.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Waniss Taïbi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Beerschot, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Beerschot, another week without a signature from Bryan Van Hove.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Dennis Gyamfi
The words a physio says slowly. 139 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beerschot is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Genki Haraguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Beerschot would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robin Mirisola signs something — a contract at Beerschot or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.06, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Genki Haraguchi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Everybody at Beerschot saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohamed Anas Haj signs something — a contract at Beerschot or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Beerschot will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Robin Mirisola, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.84
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Robin Mirisola’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Beerschot.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Waniss Taïbi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Beerschot know it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
63 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Genki Haraguchi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beerschot is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Fedde Leysen 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.06, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Waniss Taïbi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Ibe Hautekiet's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Rayan Berberi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Beerschot needing him to play as if none of it matters.
18 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Genki Haraguchi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohamed Anas Haj has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
Player ratingsBoth jobs done by Cyril Khetir — 7.25
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Michael Brouwer
The offer from Mjondalen for Niels Filippo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Genki Haraguchi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Beerschot will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Waasland-Beveren next, and one man in the Beerschot dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Beerschot know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Beerschot, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Beerschot is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Fedde Leysen 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.
The name of Niels Filippo has come up in conversations Beerschot were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Waniss Taïbi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Beerschot have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
16 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
A brace, and Waniss Taïbi takes the afternoon — 8.24
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Waniss Taïbi provided it, and the 8.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Robin Mirisola did not need any: 8.59, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Brouwer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
Squad7 new faces, and Beerschot are still learning each other
52 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Beerschot asked and Westerlo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Waniss Taïbi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Beerschot pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Beerschot are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Michael Brouwer
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Beerschot they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Beerschot close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 6 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The deal that would have taken Siviwe Magidigidi to Racing Genk has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Beerschot with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Bryan Van Hove has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Brouwer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Standard Liege have kept their man, and Beerschot go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Beerschot have lost him in all but the paperwork.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beerschot can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Charleroi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
In brief
SquadWords at Beerschot training over how hard people work
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Beerschot people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Union SG for Bryan Van Hove was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Robin Mirisola did not need any: 7.83, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
$210.0K settles it between the clubs for Sam Hendriks
Cercle Brugge have accepted the money. What Beerschot do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Charleroi have kept their man, and Beerschot go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cercle Brugge keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Antwerp paid $660.0K and Beerschot took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Club NXT the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Beerschot will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The name of Colin Dagba has come up in conversations Beerschot were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Genki Haraguchi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Beerschot will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Niels Filippo is 18, and Beerschot have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Beerschot had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Add another name to the list: Seraing have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about William Harhouz. The answer from Beerschot has not changed — yet.
Fedde Leysen 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Two goals and a mark of 8.26 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Robin Mirisola did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Genki Haraguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohamed Anas Haj has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Robin Mirisola has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.96, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Colin Dagba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It needed Mohammed El Hankouri to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Jong Genk, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Genki Haraguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yannick Nainggolan after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Genki Haraguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.15. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It needed Mohammed El Hankouri to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Olympic Charleroi, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.14 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Three points for Beerschot, 1‑0 the final word against Waasland-Beveren in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Colin Dagba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Beerschot will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Nobody at Beerschot will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Beerschot, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Waasland-Beveren in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Beerschot would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Genki Haraguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Beerschot will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beerschot can pretend not to have heard.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Robin Mirisola. 1‑0 against Eupen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bas Van den Eynden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Seraing will replay every second of the added time for a week.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Beerschot will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Genki Haraguchi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.23, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Beerschot will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Colin Dagba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alexander Quintana has his answer from Beerschot; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Beerschot will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Beerschot will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Robin Mirisola did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Beerschot will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Beerschot this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Francs Borains made Beerschot work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Beerschot training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Colin Dagba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Beerschot will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammed El Hankouri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beerschot asked and FC Copenhagen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” William Harhouz has his answer from Beerschot; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Beerschot will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Beerschot can pretend not to have heard.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Beerschot may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Beerschot close the window on a squad of their own making
22 in and 21 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The deal that would have taken Ensar Brahić to RAAL La Louviere has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Beerschot with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Genki Haraguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Standard Liege have kept their man, and Beerschot go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Beerschot will try again when the window opens; Olympic Charleroi may not be selling by then.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Union SG people have started saying his name in the past tense.
$980.0K on the table at KV Mechelen. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The chase for Aïman Maurer ended with $600.0K changing hands and RWDM out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Union SG know it.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Union SG
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Kevin Mac Allister and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Thomas Castagne has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Leander Batshuayi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union SG this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Union SG asked and Sint-Truiden said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Union SG training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marc Giger is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kevin Mac Allister is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fedde Leysen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Union SG is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union SG this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Fedde Leysen's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Marc Giger falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Union SG lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Racing Genk for Mohammed Fuseini was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Union SG have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with Lierse is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Union SG can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: Eupen have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anouar Ait El Hadj. The answer from Union SG has not changed — yet.
Jackson Muleka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Seraing have kept their man, and Union SG go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Union SG will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Jackson Muleka 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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Union SG training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Besfort Zeneli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout31 May 2027
Fedde Leysen is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Union SG will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Anouar Ait El Hadj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fedde Leysen 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Toby Januzaj has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jason Vertonghen has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mousa Kompany has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Toby Alderweireld has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Dender training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Hrnčár is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Dender will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dender, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Dender training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Květ is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Dender will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dender, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Hrnčár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
Louis Fortin’s loan is measured in nothing happening
10 clean sheets from 30 appearances at Patro Eisden. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bo De Kerf is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dender. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Aboubacar Ali has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Jackson Muleka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kevin Mac Allister trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Union SG know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Union SG will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Union SG. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Dender, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dender this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Dender training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Hrnčár is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Fedde Leysen 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benjamin Jeannot, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Roman Květ falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Wissam Ben Yedder trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Desmond Acquah is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Hrnčár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ryan Adewusi is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Roman Květ has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dender this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Hrnčár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
10 shut-outs in 30 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Louis Fortin has been having a lot of them.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Union SG know it.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody at Union SG will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hervé Koffi has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dender have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Dender training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Malcolm Viltard is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Dender can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thorgan De Ketelaere and Dender agree another 3 years.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dender have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Hrnčár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Fedde Leysen 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kevin Fellaini has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thorgan De Ketelaere is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hans Carrasco is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Laurent Meunier has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Malcolm Viltard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dender this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Something was said to Aaron Bibout and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dender can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Hrnčár was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Dender will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dender, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fedde Leysen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Malcolm Viltard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Dender know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Dender pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
1 for Malcolm Viltard, marked 7.89, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dender this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Three points for Dender, 1‑0 the final word against KAA Gent in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad15 Feb 2027
David Hrnčár falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dender can pretend not to have heard.
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Dender asked and Rostov said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
Player ratingsDavid Hrnčár beats them one at a time
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dender have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dender have done the hard part with Francs Borains, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Fedde Leysen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Promise David had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Union SG people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Union SG can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Seraing for Fedde Leysen was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
$1.2M was the most the club would pay and Standard Liege were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.2M — a club that wants Salieu Drammeh enough to be asked twice.
The first defeat in 12 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against KAA Gent; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Union SG can pretend not to have heard.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Union SG know it.
Ivan Pavlić 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Union SG can pretend not to have heard.
Kevin Mac Allister 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.
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Anan Khalaili falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Union SG, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hervé Koffi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Union SG has been clear about where Kamiel Van De Perre stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Fedde Leysen is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 6 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Guilherme Smith has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Anouar Ait El Hadj and Union SG agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Union SG this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
Player ratingsKevin Rodríguez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
SquadWords at Union SG training over how hard people work
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Union SG prefer.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Kevin Mac Allister has come out of that comparison in the side, and Union SG have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Thorgan Mignolet could afford to be generous.