81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Aug 2027
Thomas Claes wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Thomas Claes found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Mouscron went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“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 The request is on a desk at Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Shion Shinkawa, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 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.
The name of Tobias Hedl has come up in conversations Zulte Waregem 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 Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes 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.” Radja Lukaku after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Lokeren will make the call about Brent Gabriel this week. Zulte Waregem have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zulte Waregem 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 Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Andres Labie has left for Mouscron in a $560.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Claes 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Florian Michel has improved at 35, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Shion Shinkawa is 19, and Zulte Waregem 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 words a physio says slowly. 114 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 know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Sint-Truiden had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Zulte Waregem have gone to Sint-Truiden with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Jakob Kiilerich 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 15 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zulte Waregem asked and Crvena Zvezda 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 phone has started ringing about Andres Labie again, and this time the name on the line is Mouscron. Zulte Waregem are listening politely and promising nothing.
Zulte Waregem had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Red Bull Salzburg, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
The offer went to Lokeren this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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 Brent Gabriel has written the date down.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Zulte Waregem is running low.
He is going to Westerlo, the club has $1.8M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Everything agreed with Club Brugge, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Thomas Claes 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.
Red Bull Salzburg 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Florian Michel
The dugoutSerxho Ujka knocks on the manager’s door
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Thomas Claes 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zulte Waregem has been clear about where Dylan Ragolle stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutBrent Gabriel knocks on the manager’s door
Salim Diakité and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Thomas Claes 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zulte Waregem know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karl Madianga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Zulte Waregem will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zulte Waregem they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jerry Afriyie did not need any: 7.94, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Salim Diakité and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Thomas Claes 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.
At 20 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.
Brent Gabriel 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Deago Nelson has just signed for Zulte Waregem, and for once the answer mattered.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Benoît Nyssen and Zulte Waregem agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakob Kiilerich 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Zulte Waregem pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zulte Waregem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zulte Waregem had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Asteras, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Salim Diakité 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 Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zulte Waregem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Brent Gabriel 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. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Salim Diakité 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Reggiana have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Malick Mbaye 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 afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Salim Diakité 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 Thomas Claes 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. Alverca have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Brent Gabriel.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and 5 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zulte Waregem will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Brent Gabriel 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Thomas Claes 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.
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Radja Lukaku to a room that had heard them before.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
Brent Gabriel 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
Thomas Claes 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Radja Lukaku was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Zulte Waregem dressing room was either.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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 words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
0‑3 to Anderlecht, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Brent Gabriel 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zulte Waregem can tell you which week it ends in.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Brent Gabriel 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 Salim Diakité was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zulte Waregem has been clear about where Tobias Hedl stands, which is more than many ever get.
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Brent Gabriel 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 Salim Diakité was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Radja Lukaku left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
$1.0M on the table at KAA Gent. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zulte Waregem have done the hard part with Racing Genk, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Brent Gabriel 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Moreirense have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brent Gabriel and Zulte Waregem agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Brent Gabriel 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. Axel 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. Toby Hazard 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. Lois Openda 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
In brief
Squad7 new faces, and Zulte Waregem are still learning each other