Marked for Romelu Mertens
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kortney Hause and KV Oostende agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Axel Hazard 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
Axel Hazard in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
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.
Market1 Mar 2027
Romelu Mertens 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Axel Hazard in a row with a teammate
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.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
“I watch every KV Oostende game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Waasland-Beveren runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kevin Carrasco 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Vertonghen 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Charles Carrasco and KV Oostende agree another 3 years.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A smaller club would suit Laurent Boyata now
He has had enough of the noise. Whether KV Oostende can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.27 on the card, and the KV Oostende support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market15 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Laurent Boyata signs something — a contract at KV Oostende or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer from Standard Liege for Thomas Openda 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Market18 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Romelu Batshuayi 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Philippe Chevalier has left for Lokeren in a $500.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Loan watch18 Jan 2027
“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 KV Oostende, and 0 appearances in 23 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Hans Openda has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at KV Oostende 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Dec 2026
The offer from São Paulo for Laurent Boyata 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I did not go to Waasland-Beveren to sit and watch. I want to come back to KV Oostende and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
Match12 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Club Brugge, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 39. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Dec 2026
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Waasland-Beveren are no longer polite ones.
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Match12 Dec 2026
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Gabriel Robledo 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 48. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mousa Januzaj damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 14 matches without defeat is a foundation KV Oostende did not have in the autumn.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match14 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for KV Oostende
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around KV Oostende are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Axel Hazard 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.
Squad16 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“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 KV Oostende, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. KV Oostende lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match10 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten KV Oostende
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Axel Hazard and KV Oostende agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Romelu Batshuayi 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“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 KV Oostende, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Vertonghen 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for KV Oostende?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against KAA Gent? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 9 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
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.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every KV Oostende game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Waasland-Beveren runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.36. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Westerlo will be the happier side with the point.