95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Club Brugge lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Club Brugge and Sporting CP have settled on $37.9M. 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.
The offer from Charleroi for Matteo Dams 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.
“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 Club Brugge hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Sven Botman 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Bright Arrey-Mbi has, at Club Brugge, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Botafogo will make the call about Mile Svilar this week. Club Brugge have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
$870.0K was the most the club would pay and Standard Liege 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.
In brief
BoardroomThe numbers do not look good at Club Brugge
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Club Brugge lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
77 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Club Brugge and KAA Gent have settled on $390.0K. 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.
“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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Club Brugge have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $940.0K — a club that wants Raf van de Riet enough to be asked twice.
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.
Squad9 Jun 2036
Words at Club Brugge training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Kompany 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Jong Gent have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Àlex Medina 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Àlex Medina trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
The offer from Red Bull Salzburg for Matthijs de Ligt 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 Club Brugge, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mile Svilar 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.
$700.0K on the table at Standard Liege. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Kompany will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Club Brugge the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$370.0K on the table at KAA Gent. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
23 games, 1 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Club Brugge now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Bright Arrey-Mbi 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.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad2 Jun 2036
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Erenbjerg 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Jong Gent has been clear about where Finlay Herrick stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Jong Gent could ask drops and the wages Bright Arrey-Mbi can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jong Gent know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Jeppe Erenbjerg suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Jong Gent have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Jong Gent could ask drops and the wages Bright Arrey-Mbi can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jong Gent know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Laurent Nainggolan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Adnan Openda. 2‑0 against Club NXT, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Nacer Carrasco is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Jong Gent will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Jong Gent will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nacer Carrasco has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jong Gent have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Erenbjerg 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 Jong Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Finlay Herrick trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Jong Gent could ask drops and the wages Bright Arrey-Mbi can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jong Gent know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Squad24 Mar 2036
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Erenbjerg 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.
Marked 7.55 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Jong Gent could ask drops and the wages Atli Þór Jónasson can ask rise.
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Erenbjerg 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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Samuel Ballet has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Jong Gent know, and have known for weeks.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Jong Gent is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad3 Mar 2036
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Erenbjerg 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.
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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nacer Carrasco has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jong Gent have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Jong Gent can tell you which week it ends in.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Finlay Herrick.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Erenbjerg 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.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Jong Gent could ask drops and the wages Calvin Ramsay can ask rise.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Jong Gent was different afterwards.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jong Gent can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jong Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sint-Truiden waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeppe Erenbjerg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad7 Jan 2036
A place in the month's best eleven for Abdoul Ayindé
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Abdoul Ayindé has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jong Gent have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Words at Jong Gent training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Erenbjerg 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jong Gent, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Waasland-Beveren? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Moctar Guirassy’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Jong Gent needing him to play as if none of it matters.
12 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jong Gent they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Timéo Kerckhofs’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Jong Gent needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Jong Gent squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.82, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings10 Dec 2035
Up for the corner, and Ryan Trevitt delivers — 7.66
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ryan Trevitt scored, was marked 7.66, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Jong Gent is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ryan Trevitt. 1‑0 against Cercle Brugge, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ryan Trevitt trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeppe Erenbjerg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abdoul Ayindé signs something — a contract at Jong Gent or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
12 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.
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. Jong Gent have a player doing his work under protest.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jong Gent will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Timéo Kerckhofs trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Beerschot defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
11 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Timéo Kerckhofs scored in the 89th minute, Zulte Waregem had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Jong Gent took the lot.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Noah Persson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jong Gent the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 1‑0 win over Zulte Waregem, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Jong Gent have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The name of Moctar Guirassy has come up in conversations Jong Gent were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Zulte Waregem in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Jong Gent will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Eupen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jong Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.92, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Jong Gent know it.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Jong Gent have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Jong Gent, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moctar Guirassy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jong Gent the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Timéo Kerckhofs’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Jong Gent needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Jong Gent squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Jong Gent will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jong Gent people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Jong Gent have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jong Gent people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jong Gent they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Add another name to the list: Zulte Waregem have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Moctar Guirassy. The answer from Jong Gent has not changed — yet.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Lamine Fanne
Position 17 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of 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 Jong Gent, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Jong Gent will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Jong Gent will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zulte Waregem waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Jong Gent is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Jong Gent, 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 Jong Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 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 Jong Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Bright Arrey-Mbi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Louka Vanderbruggen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Antwerp the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Antwerp can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Saïdou Touré 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 Antwerp this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Antwerp now know that too.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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 Zeno Van Den Bosch is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Antwerp is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Saïdou Touré 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zeno Van Den Bosch was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Apr 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Bright Arrey-Mbi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 Zeno Van Den Bosch is on it.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Antwerp than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Antwerp, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nunzio Engwanda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Antwerp the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Louka Vanderbruggen has agreed terms with Standard Liege for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
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 Gizo Mamageishvili is on it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Antwerp will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Antwerp heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Antwerp they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zeno Van Den Bosch was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Antwerp this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Antwerp, another week without a signature from Nunzio Engwanda.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Zeno Van Den Bosch is on it.
Anderlecht go through and Antwerp go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The offer from Anderlecht for Saïdou Touré 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and KV Kortrijk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Antwerp is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Antwerp and Charleroi have settled on $740.0K. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Antwerp can pretend not to have heard.
Antwerp had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Union SG, 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 Antwerp 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.