Marked for Dries Nainggolan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
KAA Gent left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Laurent Kompany, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
A chastening European night for KV Oostende
2‑7 against Brighton. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Thomas Witsel pops up at the right end — 7.39
7.39, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Match19 Sep 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Eden De Bruyne 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about KV Oostende and Brighton in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
Match19 Sep 2026
KV Oostende are shipping goals every week
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dries Nainggolan, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Nobody left the KV Oostende dressing room in a hurry
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Squad
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
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The terraces
The spotlight tightens on Radja Witsel