Marked for Jarne Flies
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Jul 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Giulian Biancone
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. RSCA Futures lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market10 Jul 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
At 19, Gassimou Sylla is already the best thing here
An average of 7.10 in a first team he is several years too young for. RSCA Futures have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Nunzio Engwanda 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Hey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“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 dugout10 Jul 2028
Devon De Corte has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at RSCA Futures 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 dugout10 Jul 2028
Jarne Flies 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
The name of Basile Vroninks keeps appearing in other people's back pages. RSCA Futures say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what RSCA Futures can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
No sign of nerves from Enzo Sternal at 20 — 7.74
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Enzo Sternal did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A season average of 7.10 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. RSCA Futures know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim Kanaté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Thomas Foket 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 terraces17 Apr 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Enzo Sternal 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
RSCA Futures keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Player ratings17 Apr 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
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2027
82 days out for Thomas Foket after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. RSCA Futures will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match2 Oct 2027
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Olympic Charleroi will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Enzo Sternal, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.87
A mark of 7.87 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match2 Oct 2027
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Thomas Foket 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 RSCA Futures this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Oct 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Enzo Sternal. 1‑0 against Olympic Charleroi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mats Rits and RSCA Futures agree another 1 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Jarne Flies makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Kevin Alderweireld kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Thomas Foket out for 113 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason RSCA Futures will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Mattis Seghers is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
UTA Arad come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and RSCA Futures did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at RSCA Futures training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cedric Hatenboer 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Enzo Sternal 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 RSCA Futures this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Looking ahead6 Sep 2027
The neighbours are next for RSCA Futures
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Club NXT on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
Market6 Sep 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 dugout6 Sep 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Basile Vroninks is on it.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Nunzio Engwanda 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
Enzo Sternal 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
Nunzio Engwanda 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
RSCA Futures are still strangers to each other
5 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 dugout19 Jul 2027
Lukáš Ambros 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 Lukáš Ambros trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Timon Vanhoutte, and the manager let it.
Market19 Jul 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Thomas Foket may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market19 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nunzio Engwanda signs something — a contract at RSCA Futures or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match19 Jul 2027
A season winding down at RSCA Futures
Position 9, 47 points, safe from one end and out of reach of the other. The last weeks are about next season now, and the team sheet has started saying so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
Enzo Sternal 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 RSCA Futures can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Kaïs Barry and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jarne Flies and RSCA Futures agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Basile Vroninks has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at RSCA Futures 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and RSCA Futures will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Nunzio Engwanda 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Nov 2026
Lecce march on in the cup
Mantova are out and Lecce go through, 3‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
8 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.75, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Jarne Flies at 19 — 7.89
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jarne Flies did not need any: 7.89, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market9 Nov 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Lecce can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Lameck Banda 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 Lecce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alessandro Seghetti 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.
In brief
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The dugout
Nikola Štulić gets it from the manager
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Player ratings
Sadik Fofana ran the middle of the pitch — 7.24
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Squad
Words at Lecce training over how hard people work