Marked for Mathieu Muland
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Feb 2036
Chastening afternoon for Dender
A 0‑3 beating by Racing Genk was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market4 Feb 2036
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokeren-Temse waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dender is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match2 Feb 2036
7 matches without a win for Dender
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Dender are no longer polite ones.
Market4 Feb 2036
The deal that would have taken Robert Cook to KV Mechelen has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Dender with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad4 Feb 2036
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market4 Feb 2036
“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.
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Dender until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market4 Feb 2036
Mathieu Muland has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dender they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Words at Dender training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Kana 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jan 2036
“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 The request is on a desk at Dender, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 Jan 2036
The wait goes on for Dender
6 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 dugout28 Jan 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dender may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market28 Jan 2036
Ryan Adewusi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dender they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom28 Jan 2036
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Words at Dender training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Kana 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 targets28 Jan 2036
Dender asked and Anderlecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Tempers go at Dender
Joël-Anthony Keptoukoua 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 dugout28 Jan 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sol Sidibé, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Jan 2036
Daniel Valan hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Francs Borains can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Jan 2036
“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.
Transfer targets28 Jan 2036
The deal with Racing Genk 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.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Cheick Oumar Souaré 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.
Market28 Jan 2036
Xander Rammant has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Francs Borains they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Yoram van der Veen has just signed for Francs Borains, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ajay Matthews was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 Jan 2036
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Transfer targets28 Jan 2036
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces4 Sep 2034
The mood at Zulte Waregem 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.
Squad4 Sep 2034
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Brent Gabriel: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Market4 Sep 2034
“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.
The dugout4 Sep 2034
“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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2034
Zulte Waregem close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 24 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.
Market4 Sep 2034
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.
Squad4 Sep 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Brent Gabriel commits to Zulte Waregem for another 2 years.
Squad4 Sep 2034
Amine Harit and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Aug 2034
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokeren-Temse waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market21 Aug 2034
Chumi hands in a written request
“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.
Market21 Aug 2034
The bid was some way short and Zulte Waregem did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match19 Aug 2034
No end in sight to Zulte Waregem's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zulte Waregem has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Aug 2034
Alberto Dossena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2034
The offer went to Cercle Brugge 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.
Squad21 Aug 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amine Harit was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2034
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Union SG have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout21 Aug 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mathieu Muland, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jul 2034
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
Boardroom3 Jul 2034
A stranger takes charge at Zulte Waregem
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
Market3 Jul 2034
“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.
Market3 Jul 2034
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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2034
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2034
The paperwork begins on Ümit Akdağ
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zulte Waregem have done the hard part with Anderlecht, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad3 Jul 2034
Amine Harit in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad3 Jul 2034
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alberto Dossena 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 targets3 Jul 2034
Zulte Waregem asked and Anderlecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces12 Jun 2034
Supporters organise against the Zulte Waregem board
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.
Market12 Jun 2034
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.
Market12 Jun 2034
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.
Boardroom12 Jun 2034
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ryan Van Dijk 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.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Amine Harit and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market12 Jun 2034
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zulte Waregem hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Alberto Dossena 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.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2034
Zulte Waregem asked and Basel 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 dugout12 Jun 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Benicio Baker-Boaitey, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jun 2034
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
Boardroom5 Jun 2034
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Zulte Waregem
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom5 Jun 2034
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.
Market5 Jun 2034
“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.
Market5 Jun 2034
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.
Market5 Jun 2034
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zulte Waregem hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Milan Smit 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.
Squad5 Jun 2034
Amine Harit 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.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2034
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Standard Liege have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 May 2034
Milan Smit in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad29 May 2034
Amine Harit 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.
Squad29 May 2034
Zulte Waregem are still strangers to each other
6 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.
The dugout29 May 2034
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alberto Dossena trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout29 May 2034
Jacob Haahr 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.
Market29 May 2034
The name of Brent Gabriel keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zulte Waregem say nothing, which says plenty.
Market29 May 2034
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zulte Waregem could ask drops and the wages Benicio Baker-Boaitey can ask rise.
The dugout29 May 2034
The manager makes Joshua Udoh a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zulte Waregem. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad29 May 2034
Amanuel Pellaers is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.