Eden Lukaku 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between KV Oostende and Westerlo, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Openda 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 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Toby Chadli 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.
Waasland-Beveren will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. KV Oostende were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Hans Batshuayi provided it, and the 8.80 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at KV Oostende heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Eden Lukaku on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of KV Oostende and Waasland-Beveren.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
14 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Openda 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.
Jhonathan Caicedo 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Timothy Fellaini signs something — a contract at KV Oostende or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Charles Vanaken’s exile
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. KV Oostende found something the first half had given no notice of, and KV Mechelen could not hold what they had.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It finished 5‑4, and it was Eden Lukaku’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to KV Oostende.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Thomas Openda 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.
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Match21 Nov 2026
Lois Vanaken wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Lois Vanaken found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Racing Genk went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Match21 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
6 on the bounce on the road for KV Oostende. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Thomas Openda 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 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.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The match ball belongs to Lois Vanaken, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A brace, and Thomas Openda takes the afternoon — 8.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thomas Openda provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Eden Lukaku 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about KV Oostende and Lokeren in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Lois Vanaken was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.74. 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.
In brief
SquadWords at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
1‑0 against GIF Sundsvall, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Hans Batshuayi was at the centre of the description.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. OH Leuven spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Eden Lukaku will call it something else in private.
“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 KV Oostende, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 2, 30 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Openda 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.
Lois Vanaken 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
3‑0. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.
Mouscron will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. KV Oostende were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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 KV Oostende, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adnan Nainggolan did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A season average of 7.36 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Thomas Openda 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 KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. KV Kortrijk will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Eden Lukaku 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Gonzalo Senn 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.
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.
Thomas Openda 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 KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
2‑0 against Slask, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Oostende can pretend not to have heard.
Going 3 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. KV Oostende rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Anderlecht had no answer to any of it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Eden Lukaku 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: Eden Lukaku. 4‑3 against Anderlecht, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
SquadWords at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Player ratingsThomas Openda was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Charleroi spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge Salinas 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.
0‑2 away to the standard of ADO Den Haag. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
Eden Lukaku 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between KV Oostende and Sint-Truiden, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Romelu Meunier 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.
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dries 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Eden Lukaku was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. 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.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adnan Nainggolan did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at KV Oostende heard it as anything else.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Thomas Openda 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 KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 17 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.
“I watch every KV Oostende game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pescara runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
The deal that would have taken Jason Fellaini to KV Kortrijk has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to KV Oostende with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Thomas Openda 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 award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. KV Oostende have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad7 Sep 2026
6 new faces, and KV Oostende 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Eden Lukaku
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Eden Lukaku has come out of that comparison in the side, and KV Oostende have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KV Oostende know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Jorge Salinas arrives from Racing Santander with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Eden Lukaku obliged against KV Kortrijk. 4‑3 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is KV Oostende.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. KV Oostende scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
The offer from Barcelona for Eden Lukaku 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.
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Adnan Nainggolan, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.87
A mark of 7.87 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Oostende can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Oostende they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fellaini 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.
Thomas Openda 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 offer from Waasland-Beveren for Timothy Fellaini 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.
Toulouse FC paid $10.9M and KV Oostende took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Adnan Nainggolan did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The phone has started ringing about Thomas Openda again, and this time the name on the line is Club Brugge. KV Oostende are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at KV Oostende hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KV Oostende this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.90 beside his name.
At 17 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dries 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 want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at KV Oostende hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The phone has started ringing about Lois Vanaken again, and this time the name on the line is OGC Nice. KV Oostende are listening politely and promising nothing.