Zakaria El Ouahdi 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 needed Thomas Mignolet to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Zulte Waregem, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Thomas Mignolet was one of the reasons people came, and $7.5M does not replace that by itself.
69 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinho Chadli 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.
Christian De Ketelaere 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.
Lokeren did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $7.5M for Thomas Mignolet, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Jusef Erabi 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junya Ito 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Thomas Mignolet from Lokeren for $7.5M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
“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 The request is on a desk at Lokeren, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Racing Genk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thomas Mignolet. The answer from Lokeren has not changed — yet.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Zinho Chadli 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 Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Zinho Chadli wants continental football; whether Lokeren can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Add another name to the list: Racing Genk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eden Meunier. The answer from Lokeren has not changed — yet.
Zinho Chadli 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leozao 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.
At 21 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Michaël Heylen 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Zinho Chadli 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokeren know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokeren can pretend not to have heard.
Mousa Tielemans 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinho Chadli 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.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Adnan Lukaku has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thomas Alderweireld is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yannick Mertens is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Nobody at Lokeren 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.
“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 Lokeren, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadLeozao falls out with a teammate over standards
The offer from Standard Liege for Thomas Mignolet 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Enzo Romero is living that version at Lokeren, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Zinho Chadli 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 Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Lokeren will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadLeozao falls out with a teammate over standards
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokeren have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Christian De Ketelaere 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.
Zinho Chadli 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leozao 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lokeren, another week without a signature from Bura.
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 Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Laurent Boyata was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Christian De Ketelaere is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“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 Lokeren hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Zinho Chadli 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leozao 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Eden Meunier will call it something else in private.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and Lokeren are still learning each other
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Zinho Courtois was one of the reasons people came, and $71.2M does not replace that by itself.
The fee is $1.3M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Charleroi drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Radja Openda again, and this time the name on the line is Vicenza. Lokeren are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bura 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.
Nobody at Lokeren 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eden Meunier trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
0‑1 away to the standard of AZ. 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
13 goals and a season average of 7.34. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bura 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokeren can pretend not to have heard.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bura 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Zinho Chadli had Lokeren level again within 2 minutes, and Charleroi never got to play with a lead at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Eden Meunier 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thomas Mignolet signs something — a contract at Lokeren or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The offer from Catania for Radja 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.
“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 Lokeren, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Christian De Ketelaere again, and this time the name on the line is Charleroi. Lokeren 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 Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
KAA Gent held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Lokeren answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lokeren, another week without a signature from Bura.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Christian De Ketelaere did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Lokeren, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Thomas Mignolet reports back to Lokeren with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
KV Kortrijk paid $310.0K 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Club Brugge moved on, Thorgan Batshuayi reports back to Lokeren, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokeren can pretend not to have heard.
Michaël Heylen 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Lokeren training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bura 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bura, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Zinho Courtois was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokeren 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Yannick Kompany 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.