Marked for Noah Dodeigne
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. RWDM have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A falling-out at RWDM
Fabien Centonze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at RWDM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bill Lathouwers 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valladolid have kept their man, and RWDM go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joël-Anthony Keptoukoua commits to RWDM for another 4 years.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Ali Loune
“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 dugout19 Jul 2027
Anan Khalaili knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RWDM, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at RWDM would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Match19 Jul 2027
RWDM in the hunt for Europe
Position 5, 44 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. RWDM have done the hard part with Francs Borains, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad12 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RWDM this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at RWDM
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anan Khalaili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
RWDM asked and Racing Genk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“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; RWDM are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Jul 2027
10 new faces, and RWDM are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Quiñónes, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Yacouba Barry is still paying for one afternoon at RWDM
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Noah Dodeigne has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at RWDM.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Fee done, terms next for Joel Ordóñez
RWDM and Club Brugge have settled on $6.1M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RWDM can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
Union SG paid $170.0K and RWDM took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Bill Lathouwers 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at RWDM
Fabien Centonze 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
RWDM 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. RWDM will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad28 Jun 2027
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. RWDM have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout24 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RWDM have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at RWDM
Carlo Boukhalfa 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.
Squad24 May 2027
The one award nobody else on the pitch can win goes to Bill Lathouwers, on 21 clean sheets across the season. Keepers wait a career for a season like it.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at RWDM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathis Hannedouche 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 dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Daniel Quiñónes
“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.
Match24 May 2027
Continental football is in reach for RWDM
44 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at RWDM
Carlo Boukhalfa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Valentín Adamo
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at RWDM training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Loune 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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“Nobody here treats me like a loan player, and that is worth more than people think.” 30 appearances and 5 goals, and a summer that will decide it.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes Noah Dodeigne a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at RWDM. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout10 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Esteban Espinosa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RWDM this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Bill Lathouwers
“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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
12 goals in 30 games at ESTAC Troyes — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at RWDM updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad3 May 2027
“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 RWDM know it.
Squad3 May 2027
Ali Loune 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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I did not go to Eupen to sit and watch. I want to come back to RWDM and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
Squad3 May 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Xavier Preijs
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Xavier Preijs has come out of that comparison in the side, and RWDM have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Loan watch3 May 2027
30 appearances away from home and 5 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Loan watch3 May 2027
14 appearances at RKC Waalwijk and the goals keep coming. RWDM are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market26 Apr 2027
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at RWDM
Carlo Boukhalfa 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bill Lathouwers trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Match26 Apr 2027
RWDM have something to play for
Position 5 on 44 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Market26 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. RWDM know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at RWDM
Carlo Boukhalfa 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at RWDM
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Loune was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Yacouba Barry is still paying for one afternoon at RWDM
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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Valentín Adamo asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bill Lathouwers signs something — a contract at RWDM or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Guillaume Hubert has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at RWDM 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.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
The goals keep arriving from Simon Kalambayi’s exile
4 goals in 28 games at US Orleans — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at RWDM updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“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 RWDM will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
The goals keep arriving from Anan Khalaili’s exile
3 goals in 12 games at RKC Waalwijk — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at RWDM updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at RWDM
Carlo Boukhalfa 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Joël-Anthony Keptoukoua is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Edwin Laszo commits to RWDM for another 3 years.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at RWDM
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Loune was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mats Lemmens’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and RWDM needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Match29 Mar 2027
Continental football is in reach for RWDM
40 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
In brief
-
The dugout
Daniel Quiñónes knocks on the manager’s door
-
Looking ahead
Home comforts ahead for RWDM
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match20 Feb 2027
Still nobody has beaten RWDM
The unbeaten run reaches 15. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market22 Feb 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether RWDM can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at RWDM
Yacouba Barry 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Half-satisfied: Mousa Doku on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
Match20 Feb 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. RFC Liege defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Yacouba Barry knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yacouba Barry trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bill Lathouwers signs something — a contract at RWDM or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Jan 2027
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Edwin Laszo decided nobody was going anywhere. Waasland-Beveren had no time left to answer.
Match23 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, RWDM do not lose
11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Edwin Laszo goes up and wins it — 7.24
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.24 for the rest of it.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Slavia Prague is saying, and nobody at RWDM is enjoying the guessing.
Market25 Jan 2027
Cercle Brugge pay $430.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Match23 Jan 2027
RWDM make home a hard place to visit
9 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at RWDM
Carlo Boukhalfa 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
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.