Marked for Jonathan Jiménez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Lokeren
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lokeren may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 May 2027
Antoine Lejoly 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Lokeren can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Crisis meeting at Lokeren
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market3 May 2027
“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.
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 Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Lokeren
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dante Rigo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 May 2027
Adama Sarr gets it from the manager
“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 dugout3 May 2027
Jonathan Jiménez loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Jonathan Jiménez's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout3 May 2027
Sander Coopman 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Nerves in the Lokeren squad
Ken-Gaston Koumous 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Lokeren were not finished after all
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Squad
Shae Cahill is put on a programme of his own
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Lokeren can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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 Lokeren, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dante Rigo and Lokeren agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Zayd El Kandoussi 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Dante Rigo 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adnan Fellaini 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.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joachim Van Damme, and the manager let it.
Market8 Mar 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager's exit leaves Jonathan Jiménez exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Jonathan Jiménez is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Lokeren boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 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 Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Dante Rigo 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mayron de Almeida, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Jonathan Jiménez was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Antoine Hoppenot 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market1 Mar 2027
Lokeren have made César Mena available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.