The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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.
Salim Diakité and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Louis Bostyn has his answer from Zulte Waregem; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zulte Waregem know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Zulte Waregem says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“I have supported clubs like this one. I know what a bad Saturday feels like here.” The new man starts with nothing behind him and everything in front of him.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a 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 The request is on a desk at Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Anton Tanghe and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Jelle Vossen is playing like a man with something to prove
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Jelle Vossen is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces29 Mar 2027
The mood at Zulte Waregem 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.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andres Labie and Zulte Waregem agree another 4 years.
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 Benoît Costil has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutBaboye Traoré knocks on the manager’s door
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Pape Paye
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a 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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Salim Diakité 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 Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thomas Claes signs something — a contract at Zulte Waregem or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.