Marked for Maxence Prévot
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
There were 6 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olympiacos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom18 Jan 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Iliano Remans has agreed terms with Mouscron for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Birger Verstraete and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at OH Leuven
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kyan Vaesen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdoul Karim Traoré commits to OH Leuven for another 5 years.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
In brief
-
Match
OH Leuven hit back inside 3 minutes
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Transfer targets
A loan move for Joe Bell is in the works
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 16 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match19 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑6 by Racing Genk, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Tobe Leysen 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Thibaud Verlinden ran the middle of the pitch — 7.32
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.32, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the OH Leuven 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑6, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Market21 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thibaud Verlinden signs something — a contract at OH Leuven or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Nov 2026
“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 OH Leuven, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Nov 2026
Still nobody has beaten OH Leuven
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Óscar Gil 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Three points for OH Leuven, 1‑0 the final word against Zulte Waregem in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad30 Nov 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Axel Doku could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” OH Leuven may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maxence Prévot commits to OH Leuven for another 4 years.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tobe Leysen, and the manager let it.
Match10 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Westerlo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at OH Leuven training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kyan Vaesen 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at OH Leuven
Adama Sarr 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
OH Leuven are still strangers to each other
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 dugout12 Oct 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Axel Doku to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Óscar Gil 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match3 Oct 2026
Level with 96 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon OH Leuven had all but put away. Waasland-Beveren will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Charleroi to sit and watch. I want to come back to OH Leuven and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Axel Doku was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the OH Leuven dressing room was either.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at OH Leuven than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Looking ahead5 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Westerlo in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for OH Leuven
A 0‑3 beating by Club Brugge was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Óscar Gil in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at OH Leuven this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcos Gómez, and the manager let it.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Market28 Sep 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at OH Leuven has been clear about where Takahiro Akimoto stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The division's best last weekend was a OH Leuven man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Kyan Vaesen was the best thing in any of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.14, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Óscar Gil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
Three points for OH Leuven, 2‑1 the final word against KV Mechelen in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at OH Leuven training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kyan Vaesen 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.
The dugout21 Sep 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.” Axel Doku kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Adama Sarr
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
OH Leuven take on the side everybody is chasing
Club Brugge arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
1‑5 to Standard Liege, 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Henok Teklab among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Henok Teklab on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of OH Leuven and Standard Liege.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noë Dussenne, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at OH Leuven training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kyan Vaesen 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at OH Leuven
Thibault Vlietinck 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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad14 Sep 2026
OH Leuven are still strangers to each other
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what OH Leuven can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 6 in, 2 out at OH Leuven
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
OH Leuven asked and Racing Genk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Sep 2026
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon OH Leuven had all but put away. Racing Genk will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Match5 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
OH Leuven asked and Vissel Kobe said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at OH Leuven
Bryang Kayo 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
Axel Doku faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Axel Doku after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Tobe Leysen dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxence Prévot, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The formation has left Halil Özdemir behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. OH Leuven will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.