Marked for Noa Kapo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Sep 2028
Thomas Claes 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.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
A performance of 8.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Serxho Ujka 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ennio van der Gouw knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Loan watch18 Sep 2028
“I did not go to Banik Ostrava to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zulte Waregem and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Match16 Sep 2028
A 1‑1 draw with KV Mechelen leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Joseph Opoku 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.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
The one thing Marley Aké could not do
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2028
Lokeren will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zulte Waregem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
A defender's afternoon for Dirk Asare
Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Thomas Claes 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.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
A performance of 9.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Noa Kapo signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Noa Kapo and Zulte Waregem agree another 4 years.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Malick Mbaye finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Zulte Waregem have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikola Mituljikić, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Aug 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Jakob Kiilerich 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
As if he never left: Noa Kapo returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Noa Kapo is a Zulte Waregem player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakob Kiilerich, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“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; Zulte Waregem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match19 Aug 2028
Point won or two lost for Zulte Waregem?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against OH Leuven? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad24 Jan 2028
There were 8 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zulte Waregem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match22 Jan 2028
6 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Jakob Kiilerich 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.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
A performance of 9.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market24 Jan 2028
KV Oostende pay $150.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad24 Jan 2028
8 goals and a season average of 7.43. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings24 Jan 2028
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.