Marked for Kevin Castagne
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Jason Nainggolan out for 45 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokeren will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A one-man rearguard from Mohamed Koné
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market4 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Lokeren did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match2 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Lokeren
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.
Market4 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Christian Chadli did the work nobody counts — 6.87
16 combined actions and 6.87. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Christian Alderweireld 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Éder 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Jason Nainggolan out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokeren will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Eden Alderweireld 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Simon Nainggolan 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jason Nainggolan and Lokeren agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I watch every Lokeren 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Mohamed Koné
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Jason Nainggolan, 34, rolls back the years — 7.81
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Eden Alderweireld 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 Nov 2026
Simon Nainggolan 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match7 Nov 2026
Three points for Lokeren, 1‑0 the final word against Anderlecht in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Waasland-Beveren to sit and watch. I want to come back to Lokeren and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
In brief
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Player ratings
A defender's afternoon for Éder
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Boardroom
Lokeren were not finished after all
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The terraces
The press cannot get enough of Mohamed Koné
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Lokeren
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Lokeren are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Eden Alderweireld 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Éder 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandro Calut, and the manager let it.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Lokeren 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.36, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Eden Alderweireld 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Simon Nainggolan 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Three points for Lokeren, 3‑2 the final word against Racing Genk in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad14 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Éder
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Éder, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Lokeren 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.