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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RAAL La Louviere is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at RAAL La Louviere can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RFC Liege this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 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 RFC Liege know it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Allan Verlinden is living that version at RFC Liege, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RFC Liege can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RFC Liege they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Liam Kitching 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 manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Pau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RFC Liege can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RFC Liege they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Deadline passes with 22 signed and 24 gone
That is the business done at RFC Liege 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Romain Picard has, at RFC Liege, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“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 RFC Liege, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Liam Kitching 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 Marco Ruggero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Standard Liege: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Standard Liege 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.
“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 RFC Liege, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RFC Liege is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RFC Liege have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marco Ruggero 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 Giorgi Chakvetadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
RFC Liege 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.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around RFC Liege they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 RFC Liege, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about RFC Liege and Westerlo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad9 Aug 2032
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.
RFC Liege asked and Standard Liege said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at RFC Liege is running low.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RFC Liege is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RFC Liege this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Marco Ruggero 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.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $44.2M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at RFC Liege is running low.
“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 RFC Liege, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RFC Liege is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Racing Genk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“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 RFC Liege know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Chakvetadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
RFC Liege 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.
In brief
BoardroomThe borrowing at RFC Liege reaches $44.8M
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
“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 RFC Liege, and it is not being withdrawn.
Beres Owusu 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.
Squad31 May 2032
Maxime Pau 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at RFC Liege can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Marco Ruggero arrives at RFC Liege with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RAAL La Louviere can pretend not to have heard.
Marcos Peano 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.
RFC Liege will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Tim van de Loo has pre-agreed a move to RAAL La Louviere, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jenson Metcalfe 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.
Nobody at RAAL La Louviere 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Endre Osenbroch has his answer from RAAL La Louviere; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee RAAL La Louviere could ask drops and the wages Tom Pouilly can ask rise.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. RAAL La Louviere will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. RAAL La Louviere know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutBabacar Mboup knocks on the manager's door
The dugoutThe manager makes Keiner Arias a promise
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tim van de Loo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RFC Liege the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Liam Kitching and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2032
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at RFC Liege, another week without a signature from Bill Lathouwers.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. RFC Liege will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RFC Liege can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” RFC Liege have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at RFC Liege is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Matheus Henrique 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.
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.
In brief
Boardroom$1.9M from the owner keeps RFC Liege afloat
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason RFC Liege will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Beres Owusu 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.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Pau 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RFC Liege, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Tim van de Loo’s negotiating for him
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás González will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RFC Liege the goodbyes have quietly begun.
William Harhouz 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.
Squad5 Apr 2032
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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 shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. RFC Liege will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 RFC Liege, and it is not being withdrawn.
Liam Kitching 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 2032
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Pau 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.
Lommel next, and one man in the RFC Liege dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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. RFC Liege will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RFC Liege can pretend not to have heard.
Beres Owusu 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 Giorgi Chakvetadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason RFC Liege will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Beres Owusu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RFC Liege the goodbyes have quietly begun.
William Harhouz 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. RFC Liege 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 RFC Liege can pretend not to have heard.
Beres Owusu 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 Maxime Pau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
9 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.
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.
William Harhouz 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.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Beres Owusu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around RFC Liege the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Liam Kitching 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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RFC Liege, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason RFC Liege will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at RFC Liege can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at RFC Liege this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.
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 dugout10 Nov 2031
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 1‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutTim van de Loo asks for a word with the manager
Player ratingsAn afternoon Liam Kitching will want back
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Liam Kitching 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 Maxime Pau was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
In brief
The dugoutAlexis de Sart dropped after a run of poor form
The dugoutTim van de Loo asks for a word with the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason RFC Liege will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Felix Uduokhai 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.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Maxime Pau 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at RFC Liege, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Bill Lathouwers’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and RFC Liege needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. RFC Liege lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Hans Vanaken 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.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Words at RFC Liege training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at RFC Liege, another week without a signature from Liam Kitching.
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sparta Rotterdam has to find a result from somewhere.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sparta Rotterdam 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 Sparta Rotterdam people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AZ keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
$400.0K on the table at Zwolle. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“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 Sparta Rotterdam, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Sparta Rotterdam hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Patrick Berg and Sparta Rotterdam agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Add another name to the list: TOP Oss have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Filip Oprea. The answer from Sparta Rotterdam has not changed — yet.
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.
Sparta Rotterdam asked and Roda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.