The Lokeren Chronicle
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Yannick Tielemans runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Aug 2026
Lokeren turn down KV Kortrijk for Maximilian Schumacher
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Aug 2026
Business is business: Dries Mignolet goes
Sint-Truiden paid $1.9M and Lokeren took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Lokeren
Laurent Castagne 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Adrià Vilanova 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Youri Meunier gets it from the manager
“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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Mouscron take the points off Lokeren
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Costly mistake from Leander Mertens
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Leander Mertens knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Market17 Aug 2026
Nicolás Martínez brings the grey hairs Lokeren lacked
At 39, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
In brief
- Market Adrià Vilanova joins Lokeren on a free
- Player ratings Maximilian Schumacher spends the afternoon fouling