The Lokeren Chronicle
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Yannick Alderweireld runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market5 Feb 2029
João Fernandes asks to leave Lokeren
“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.
Match3 Feb 2029
Lokeren throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Westerlo the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Lokeren will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Both of them Dedryck Tielemans's — 8.21
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.21, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match3 Feb 2029
Still nobody has beaten Lokeren
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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Axel Batshuayi 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Douglas Luiz
“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.
Loan watch5 Feb 2029
Patrik Mijić counts the days
“I watch every Lokeren game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at St. Pauli runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The terraces5 Feb 2029
Lokeren supporters have found a favourite in Dedryck Tielemans
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Dedryck Tielemans 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.
In brief
- Squad Douglas Luiz has outgrown this division
- Match Honours even between Lokeren and Westerlo
- Boardroom $10.2M on the table at Lokeren