22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. KV Mechelen lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mike Eerdhuijzen and KV Mechelen agree another 5 years.
Mike Eerdhuijzen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Denis Bouanga 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leander Batshuayi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Fredrik Hammar and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Denis Bouanga 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.
A 2‑1 win over Standard Liege, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.45 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Thérence Koudou has his answer from KV Mechelen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Leander Batshuayi, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Sturm Graz kept coming because nothing stopped them, and KV Mechelen will be asked about the last half hour all week.
2‑3 against Sturm Graz. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
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 Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bill Antonio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Bouanga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Denis Bouanga. 1‑0 against OH Leuven, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.38 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Thérence Koudou 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.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Denis Bouanga is on it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Leander Batshuayi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
0‑7 against RB Leipzig. 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.
“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 KV Mechelen, 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 KV Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between KV Mechelen and RB Leipzig, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Denis Bouanga 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.
5 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A brace, and Denis Bouanga takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Denis Bouanga provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Fredrik Hammar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Bouanga 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” William Avognan and KV Mechelen agree another 2 years.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; KV Mechelen are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
He is 20, and nobody at KV Mechelen signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Mechelen can pretend not to have heard.
Mike Eerdhuijzen 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Bouanga 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; KV Mechelen are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Martin Delavallée and KV Mechelen agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The chase for Martin Delavallée ended with $660.0K changing hands and Charleroi out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Myron van Brederode and KV Mechelen agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Ayman Kari 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Myron van Brederode trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at KV Mechelen 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.
KV Mechelen and KV Kortrijk have settled on $400.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Sergio Díaz is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Bouanga 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at KV Mechelen can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Alverca have kept their man, and KV Mechelen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around KV Mechelen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Lokeren paid $1.2M and KV Mechelen took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Add another name to the list: Sint-Truiden have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Thérence Koudou. The answer from KV Mechelen has not changed — yet.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Denis Bouanga 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokeren waiting with a shirt. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
José Marsà has gone, the accounts have $4.5M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Lokeren paid $4.5M and KV Mechelen took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Mechelen can pretend not to have heard.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ortwin De Wolf and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around KV Mechelen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
KV Mechelen asked and Charlotte Football Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 KV Mechelen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Waasland-Beveren have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bouke Boersma. The answer from KV Mechelen has not changed — yet.
Mike Eerdhuijzen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Bouanga 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 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.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for KV Mechelen
The dugoutHassane Bandé asks for a word with the manager
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. KV Mechelen lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Mechelen can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: KAA Gent have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Myron van Brederode. The answer from KV Mechelen has not changed — yet.
“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 Mechelen heard it as anything else.
KV Mechelen had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al Ahly, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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 Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Bouanga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. KV Mechelen lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Sergio Díaz has, at KV Mechelen, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bill Antonio 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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Myron van Brederode signs something — a contract at KV Mechelen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Denis Bouanga 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.
Nobody at KV Mechelen 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.
Rayane Bounida and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Denis Bouanga 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; KV Mechelen are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. KV Mechelen have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Levante for José Marsà 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.
KAA Gent paid $1.1M and KV Mechelen took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Denis Bouanga 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Charlotte Football Club have kept their man, and KV Mechelen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. KV Mechelen have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Mechelen can pretend not to have heard.
KV Mechelen had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Slovan Bratislava, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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 Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Carrarese have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Maksim Kireev. The answer from KV Mechelen has not changed — yet.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Bouanga 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.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.22, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Denis Bouanga 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.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thérence Koudou and KV Mechelen agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Marked 8.10 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Leander Batshuayi could afford to be generous.
0‑3 to KV Oostende, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“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.
Mike Eerdhuijzen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Denis Bouanga 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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the KV Mechelen dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Leander Batshuayi to a room that had heard them before.
Squad7 Dec 2026
5 new faces, and KV Mechelen are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Sint-Truiden will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. KV Mechelen were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A brace, and Ayman Kari takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ayman Kari provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Mike Eerdhuijzen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Denis Bouanga 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 23 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.
10 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Leander Batshuayi kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Westerlo, and it could have been more.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A brace, and Ayman Kari takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ayman Kari provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Mike Eerdhuijzen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Bouanga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Position 5, 26 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Denis Bouanga decided nobody was going anywhere. Club Brugge had no time left to answer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Bouanga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Leander Batshuayi on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Mike Eerdhuijzen and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about KV Mechelen and Standard Liege in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Bill Antonio 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 23 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.
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Rayane Bounida obliged against OH Leuven. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is KV Mechelen.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KV Mechelen can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Anderlecht for Maksim Kireev 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. KV Mechelen have done the hard part with Sint-Truiden, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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 Mechelen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
KV Mechelen asked and Sint-Truiden said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Lokomotiv Plovdiv have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bouke Boersma. The answer from KV Mechelen has not changed — yet.
In brief
SquadBill Antonio falls out with a teammate over standards
The offer from KAA Gent for Myron van Brederode 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.
$290.0K was the most the club would pay and Racing Genk were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bill Antonio 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against KV Oostende? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against KV Kortrijk in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
KV Mechelen have gone to Los Angeles Football Club with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Mike Eerdhuijzen 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and KV Mechelen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Massimo Decoene again, and this time the name on the line is OH Leuven. KV Mechelen are listening politely and promising nothing.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.