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.
Axel Nainggolan 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 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.
0‑0. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Zulte Waregem came through the finding-out well against Zeleznicar Pancevo.
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Bouldini 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.
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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Axel Nainggolan wants continental football; whether Zulte Waregem can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Axel Nainggolan 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 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakob Kiilerich 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.
Nobody at Zulte Waregem 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
12 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Serxho Ujka will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Zulte Waregem escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Axel Nainggolan 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 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nacer Carrasco and Zulte Waregem agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Bouldini 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 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jevon Simons commits to Zulte Waregem for another 4 years.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Bouldini 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.
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.
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.
Lokeren left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakob Kiilerich 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
Player ratingsOff the bench and decisive: Jevon Simons
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kevin Varga has just signed for Zulte Waregem, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Bouldini 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and KV Kortrijk spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The fee is $3.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Mouscron drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Joseph Opoku, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.70
A mark of 7.70 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
Zulte Waregem spend $3.5M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $3.5M for Axel Nainggolan, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Bouldini 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Joseph Opoku 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.
Add another name to the list: Borussia Dortmund have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Joseph Opoku. The answer from Zulte Waregem has not changed — yet.
Brent Gabriel 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Zulte Waregem
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Leander Nainggolan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Hans Carrasco has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Zulte Waregem would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Anosike Ementa was one of the reasons people came, and $3.0M does not replace that by itself.
Brent Gabriel 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
He is going to Westerlo, the club has $1.5M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The chase for Dani van den Heuvel ended with $360.0K changing hands and OH Leuven out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Brent Gabriel 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.
In brief
SquadJakob Kiilerich falls out with a teammate over standards
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Anton Tanghe was one of the reasons people came, and $2.5M does not replace that by itself.
KV Mechelen paid $2.5M and Zulte Waregem took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Tanghe 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 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Anton Tanghe 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.
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakob Kiilerich 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Malick Mbaye 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 run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Zulte Waregem are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Anton Tanghe 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.
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 Anton Tanghe.
Axel Mertens 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.
“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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joseph Opoku did not need any: 8.29, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The offer from KAA Gent for Louis Bostyn 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Joe Bauress has just signed for Zulte Waregem, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from KV Mechelen for Anton Tanghe 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.
“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.
Brent Gabriel 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zulte Waregem, and 4 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julius Biada 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Joseph Opoku is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Zulte Waregem will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Charleroi will make the call about Dirk Asare this week. Zulte Waregem have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
30 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joseph Opoku did not need any: 8.03, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Joseph Opoku 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Joseph Opoku’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zulte Waregem.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Julius Biada 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakob Kiilerich 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.
0‑3 against KV Kortrijk, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Brent Gabriel 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zulte Waregem, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Serxho Ujka 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.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Zulte Waregem dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Joseph Opoku, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Serxho Ujka 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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon belonged to Serxho Ujka
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Brent Gabriel 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Anosike Ementa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zulte Waregem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julius Biada 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.
Brent Gabriel 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 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
OH Leuven left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Zulte Waregem 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Matthieu Ezikian is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.