Marked for Viktor Viðarsson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
Bas Evers 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 dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Viðarsson, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 May 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Briek Van Hoorick 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
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 May 2027
The Bas Evers story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bas Evers signs something — a contract at Jong Gent or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Jong Gent
Position 17 and 20 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market10 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 May 2027
Viktor Viðarsson 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Abdoul Ayindé
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Jong Gent will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout10 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Jong Gent are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad29 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 Jong Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Gilles De Meyer 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
The name of Briek Van Hoorick keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jong Gent say nothing, which says plenty.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Home comforts ahead for Jong Gent
Eupen, position 4, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
Bas Evers 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 Jong Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Briek Van Hoorick 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
0‑1 to RSCA Futures, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Viktor Viðarsson and Jong Gent agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Axel Doku faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Axel Doku after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Viðarsson, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Hannes Vernemmen 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Bas Evers linked with a move away
The name of Bas Evers keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Jong Gent say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hannes Vernemmen is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michiel Cauwel commits to Jong Gent for another 5 years.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Viktor Viðarsson 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gilles De Meyer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Bas Evers
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Jong Gent say no — this time
The offer from El-Kanemi Warriors for Abubakar Abdullahi 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
He is 17 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Oleksandr Soroka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A defender's afternoon for Trey Kongolo
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mamadou Diallo 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 Aug 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.” Axel Doku chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Waasland-Beveren will be the happier side with the point.