The words a physio says slowly. 135 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sint-Truiden have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sint-Truiden have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Waasland-Beveren for Michy Courtois 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Aiham Ousou 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
145 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sint-Truiden lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 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 The request is on a desk at Sint-Truiden, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sint-Truiden have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Ryotaro Ito 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Anderlecht have kept their man, and Sint-Truiden go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadWords at Sint-Truiden training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sint-Truiden will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The chase for Siebe Schrijvers ended with $380.0K changing hands and OH Leuven out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Andrés Ferrari 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 name of Samuel Dié has come up in conversations Sint-Truiden were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” KAA Gent had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from ADO Den Haag for Eden Witsel 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.
$1.4M was the most the club would pay and KV Kortrijk were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michy Courtois will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sint-Truiden 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 Sint-Truiden 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 Shogo Taniguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sint-Truiden lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Shogo Taniguchi 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Ryotaro Ito 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.
142 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sint-Truiden lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Shogo Taniguchi 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Aiham Ousou 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 finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market6 Mar 2028
Samuel Dié returns from a loan that gave him nothing
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Eden Lukaku after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutRyotaro Araki asks for a word with the manager
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. ADO Den Haag moved on, Eden Witsel reports back to Sint-Truiden, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sint-Truiden have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Ryotaro Ito 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokeren have kept their man, and Sint-Truiden go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Lucas Beerten 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 Mouscron 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 Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Sint-Truiden pay $380.0K, 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.
Mouscron asked and KAA Gent said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahima Fall, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Januzaj 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 38 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Mouscron is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
In brief
Looking aheadMouscron face Westerlo in the game that matters most
19 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.
“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 Mouscron, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mouscron and Racing Genk have settled on $480.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The deal with KAA Gent died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Eden Witsel 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.
At 35, 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Hans Carrasco after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mouscron can pretend not to have heard.
Standard Liege have accepted the money. What Mouscron do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deal with KV Oostende is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Anderlecht is saying, and nobody at Mouscron is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eden Witsel 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 given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mouscron know it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KV Kortrijk have kept their man, and Mouscron go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sint-Truiden have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Shogo Taniguchi 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.
Sint-Truiden asked and Mouscron said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Souleyman Doumbia and Sint-Truiden agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Aiham Ousou 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jalal Abdullai 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jalal Abdullai. 1‑0 against KAA Gent, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.” Mouscron have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eden Witsel 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.
Jens Cools 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.
0‑1 to Lokeren, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Ibrahima Fall was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
14 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.87 for the rest of it.
David Bates and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Eden Witsel 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hans Carrasco after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Jens Cools
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mouscron can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mouscron have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
David Bates 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eden Witsel 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 this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Iliano Remans has, at Mouscron, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Bates was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hans Carrasco after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Iliano Remans is 19, and Mouscron have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
In brief
Squad6 new faces, and Mouscron are still learning each other
The dugoutJens Cools dropped after a run of poor form
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mees Kreekels and Mouscron agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Eden Witsel 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 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 Lois De Bruyne is on it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Mouscron will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Westerlo in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mouscron, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
At 21 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Eden Witsel 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 Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody at Mouscron saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Adnan Boyata 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
David Bates 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.
At 37, 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Club Brugge go through and Mouscron go home, 0‑5 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
0-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
7 goals in one match, Antônio Andrade on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Mouscron and Racing Genk.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eden Witsel 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 Mouscron can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with KV Kortrijk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
David Bates 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.
Mouscron and Club Brugge have settled on $93.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mouscron have done the hard part with Anderlecht, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Mouscron had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Club Brugge, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Bates was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The deal with KV Kortrijk is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Eden Witsel 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.
Mouscron asked and Racing Genk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jason De Ketelaere and Mouscron agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Mouscron have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Club Brugge is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Bates 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.
Mouscron asked and Zulte Waregem said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Club Brugge is saying, and nobody at Mouscron is enjoying the guessing.
David Bates 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Eden Witsel 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.
Mouscron asked and Sint-Truiden 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mouscron, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mouscron have done the hard part with Charleroi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 Mouscron, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Noé Verron is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eden Witsel 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 38, 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.
Standard Liege have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“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 Mouscron, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mouscron have done the hard part with Standard Liege, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adnan Boyata commits to Mouscron for another 4 years.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eden Witsel 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.
Mouscron asked and Zulte Waregem said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Mouscron 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Mouscron than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
In brief
The dugoutAdnan Boyata knocks on the manager's door
BoardroomOpen for business: Mouscron enter the window
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mouscron 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 Eden Witsel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
33 games, 5 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Mouscron now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mouscron, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Falke Vandecaetsbeek has written the date down.
David Bates 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.
Jonny Howson 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Albin Ekdal, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
Lois Openda is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
5 goals in 20 games at Valenciennes — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mouscron updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
26 points in position 12: too many to go down, too few to go anywhere. The honest description of a season like this is a shrug, and the supporters have already given it.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mouscron lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Bates was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jonny Howson 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mouscron, and both men came out saying it was fine.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mouscron lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad19 Apr 2027
David Bates 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 Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
10 goals in 27 games at Cardiff City — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mouscron updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lois Openda, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Lois Openda is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Falke Vandecaetsbeek has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonny Howson 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 Mouscron this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mouscron lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mouscron can tell you which week it ends in.
Jonny Howson 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Januzaj 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.
“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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Hans Carrasco to a room that had heard them before.
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.
The clock did what US Creteil would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khalis Merah 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.
Bryan Passi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolás Martínez and Valenciennes agree another 1 years.
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
A brace, and Eden Witsel takes the afternoon — 8.76
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eden Witsel provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Valenciennes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Valenciennes have done the hard part with Monaco, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Sofian Bahloul 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 Khalis Merah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 39 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
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.
“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; Valenciennes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
0‑1 to US Creteil, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Daou Diomandé 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.
Bryan Passi 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.
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Henri Perrin left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valenciennes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mouscron lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bryan Van Den Bogaert and Mouscron agree another 1 years.
Andréa Librici and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tsubasa Nishi 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Lois Openda's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
5 goals in 10 games at Cardiff City — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Mouscron updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Andréa Librici arrives at Mouscron with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Khalis Merah 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Amourricho van Axel Dongen. 1‑0 against Red Star, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.24. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Valenciennes.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Valenciennes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daou Diomandé 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 figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Henri Perrin kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Valenciennes have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mouscron lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Lois Carrasco, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thorgan Tielemans 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.
Dino Arslanagić arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Lois Openda is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mouscron, another week without a signature from Jerson Cabral.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Mouscron. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 Valenciennes, 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 Valenciennes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Khalis Merah 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Valenciennes told Eden Witsel something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Valenciennes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Alain Ipiélé a promise
Romain Thomas 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jean Louchet trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.