Marked for Dylan Ourega
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Dec 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Adnan Januzaj 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emin Bayram 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Westerlo now know that too.
Match16 Dec 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thomas Van Den Keybus. 1‑0 against Charleroi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Marked 7.64. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Getting past Andreas Jungdal has become the hardest job in the division
8 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market13 Nov 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Emin Bayram goes up and wins it — 7.94
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 7.94 for the rest of it.
Squad13 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Emin Bayram 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.
The terraces13 Nov 2028
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.
Match11 Nov 2028
A 1‑0 win over KV Mechelen, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Loan watch13 Nov 2028
“I watch every Westerlo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Waasland-Beveren runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Nov 2028
14 matches without a win for Westerlo
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Westerlo are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Nov 2028
A European night to remember for Westerlo
1‑1 against Hajduk Split, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Squad6 Nov 2028
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Westerlo
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market6 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market6 Nov 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Westerlo heard it as anything else.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Adnan Januzaj was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
A goal and an assist for Adnan Januzaj — 7.52
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.52 beside his name.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Marked 7.84. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Oct 2028
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match28 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Westerlo
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces30 Oct 2028
The mood at Westerlo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match30 Oct 2028
Every point is an argument now for Westerlo
Position 15 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Westerlo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
29 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Match28 Oct 2028
The goals have deserted Westerlo
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Westerlo can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad30 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Westerlo
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market9 Oct 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Koen Van Langendonck will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Enzo Geerts commits to Westerlo for another 4 years.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Aug 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Reda Laalaoui is a better footballer than he was
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.
Market21 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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 terraces21 Aug 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Dylan Ourega 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.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
A defender's afternoon for Emin Bayram
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Aug 2028
A fracture rules Serhiy Sydorchuk out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Westerlo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Aug 2028
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Age has not caught Jason Denayer yet — 8.11
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.11 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Dylan Ourega is a better footballer than he was
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.
Market7 Aug 2028
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Market7 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Serhiy Sydorchuk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces7 Aug 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. David Amegnaglo 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jun 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 128 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Veljko Babic has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Westerlo can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market5 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Maecky Ngombo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maecky Ngombo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Maecky Ngombo 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Emin Bayram 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dylan Ourega and Westerlo agree another 4 years.
Market5 Jun 2028
A conversation is coming this week. Westerlo will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces20 Mar 2028
Anger at Westerlo spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Westerlo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Ethan Pinnock 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Westerlo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Dec 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 Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
23 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jason Denayer 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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad13 Dec 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ethan Pinnock'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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 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 Westerlo can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Westerlo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.