Baptiste Santamaria 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.
11 goals in 30 games at Dender — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at KAA Gent updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
Something was said to James Ndjeungoue and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammed El Âdfaoui signs something — a contract at KAA Gent or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Siebe Van der Heyden may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
22 graduates from an academy now rated 11 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
Fernand Gouré 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at KAA Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at KAA Gent, another week without a signature from Abdelkahar Kadri.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammed El Âdfaoui trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“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 mood at KAA Gent has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KAA Gent have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KAA Gent they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Something was said to Hugo Gambor and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at KAA Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at KAA Gent, and 5 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A place in the month's best eleven for Dante Vanzeir
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Dante Vanzeir has come out of that comparison in the side, and KAA Gent have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Baptiste Santamaria 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 oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Baptiste Santamaria is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KAA Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammed El Âdfaoui signs something — a contract at KAA Gent or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hugo Siquet has written the date down.
“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 KAA Gent, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at KAA Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Robin Mirisola 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.
11 goals in 28 games at Dender — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at KAA Gent updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Marked 7.47 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, KAA Gent had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Romelu Chadli was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the KAA Gent dressing room was either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KAA Gent can pretend not to have heard.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Baptiste Santamaria scored, was marked 7.69, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and KV Kortrijk were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
KAA Gent asked and KV Kortrijk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KAA Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jamie Donley. 3‑2 against KV Kortrijk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Day 11 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Romelu Chadli on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Club Brugge have kept their man, and KAA Gent go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KAA Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beerschot paid $300.0K and KAA Gent took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“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 KAA Gent, and it is not being withdrawn.
Baptiste Santamaria 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Mukuna will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KAA Gent the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KAA Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and OH Leuven were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Something was said to Dante Vanzeir and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutHugo Gambor has become a man the manager trusts
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KAA Gent they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gustav Mortensen 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.
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 Hugo Gambor is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Baptiste Santamaria trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
RAAL La Louviere next, and one man in the KAA Gent dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KAA Gent know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Baptiste Santamaria 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.
“I watch every KAA Gent game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at RWDM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Robin Mirisola has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KAA Gent can pretend not to have heard.
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.
KV Kortrijk next, and one man in the KAA Gent dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at KAA Gent that is a harder question to answer.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Club Brugge have kept their man, and KAA Gent go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Axel Boyata after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at KAA Gent 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.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, KAA Gent have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KAA Gent lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clock did what Racing Genk would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
KAA Gent close the window on a squad of their own making
21 in and 29 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. KAA Gent have done the hard part with Standard Liege, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Robin Mirisola 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.
He is 22 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jong Gent people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. El Hadji Seck 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 Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
They sit in position 2 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Jong Gent have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Westerlo for Ruslan Vydysh 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoul Ayindé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Jong Gent, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jong Gent people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Abdoul Ayindé 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.
Something was said to Ruslan Vydysh and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and El Hadji Seck was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Jong Gent have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Jong Gent has been clear about where Abubakar Abdullahi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdoul Ayindé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
“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 Jong Gent, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abubakar Abdullahi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gyano Vanderdonck has his answer from Jong Gent; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Matties Volckaert 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.
“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 Jong Gent will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Position 15 and 29 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.
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.
Pieter Gerkens 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 May 2028
6 new faces, and Jong Gent are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jong Gent know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Jong Gent can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdoul Ayindé 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.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jong Gent they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
El Hadji Seck 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 Abdoul Ayindé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Jong Gent pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammed El Âdfaoui trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jong Gent told Yllan Okou something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Gyano Vanderdonck 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.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and El Hadji Seck was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Michiel Cauwel.
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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Briek Van Hoorick commits to Jong Gent for another 4 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. El Hadji Seck 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.
Pieter Gerkens 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 has re-ordered his thinking and Youssef Challouk has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Hannes Vernemmen.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jong Gent can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jong Gent they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Pieter Gerkens 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.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Jong Gent, another week without a signature from Oleksandr Soroka.
In brief
The dugoutEl Hadji Seck knocks on the manager’s door
Position 16 and 12 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jong Gent they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
El Hadji Seck 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.
He is 21 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.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
El Hadji Seck 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 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Vydysh signs something — a contract at Jong Gent or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Maxime Lestienne has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Club NXT in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Pieter Gerkens 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
El Hadji Seck 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Trey Kongolo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Jong Gent needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Jong Gent. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jong Gent will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
El Hadji Seck 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ruslan Vydysh 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.
A point taken on 85 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Jong Gent told Hugo Gambor something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Youssef Challouk has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jong Gent have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
El Hadji Seck 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.
Level with 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Jong Gent had all but put away. Zulte Waregem will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammed El Âdfaoui trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jong Gent will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jong Gent people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Hugo Gambor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
El Hadji Seck 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 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 Jong Gent will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Jong Gent, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Viktor Viðarsson’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Jong Gent needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
6 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.
Núrio 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 El Hadji Seck was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Núrio has moved up it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Vydysh signs something — a contract at Jong Gent or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jong Gent people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Pieter Gerkens and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. El Hadji Seck 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 Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
$2.8M on the table at OH Leuven. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
KAA Gent asked and Olympic Charleroi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Mohammed El Âdfaoui 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.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Greg Ranjitsingh has, at KAA Gent, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Baptiste Santamaria and KAA Gent agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The name of David Mukuna has come up in conversations KAA Gent were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 Matisse Samoise is on it.