Marked for Basile Vroninks
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Jun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
He is 21, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad14 Jun 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Basile Vroninks is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at RSCA Futures has been clear about where Basile Vroninks stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Basile Vroninks
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amine Mahroug and RSCA Futures agree another 5 years.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market14 Jun 2027
The shop window has Enzo Sternal in it
RSCA Futures have let the market know Enzo Sternal can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
The offer from Francs Borains for Timon Vanhoutte was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Alexis Flips 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Cedric Hatenboer 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
No place for Mats Rits in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mats Rits has his answer from RSCA Futures; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Enzo Sternal
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ali Maamar and RSCA Futures agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Thomas Foket gets picked when it counts
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 Thomas Foket is on it.
Market7 Jun 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Basile Vroninks may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Devon De Corte and RSCA Futures agree another 5 years.
Squad17 May 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.
Squad17 May 2027
He is 21, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad17 May 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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 dugout17 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 44. 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” RSCA Futures may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match21 Nov 2026
5 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at RSCA Futures can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Basile Vroninks and RSCA Futures agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Kaïs Barry 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Youri De Ketelaere chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
A test against the best for RSCA Futures
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Waasland-Beveren.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Omar Sarr
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Sarr, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cedric Hatenboer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Kaïs Barry 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Joël Kana
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joël Kana, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Basile Vroninks trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nunzio Engwanda wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and RSCA Futures have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.05 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Basile Vroninks is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Mats Rits is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 33 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Match17 Oct 2026
Jong Gent left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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 terraces19 Oct 2026
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Gassimou Sylla
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Basile Vroninks commits to RSCA Futures for another 5 years.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Gassimou Sylla 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over RWDM, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Cedric Hatenboer 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Kaïs Barry 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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Youri De Ketelaere, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one RSCA Futures will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Anas Tajaouart 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.