The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
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.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Miras 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.
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 Thibaud Verlinden is on it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.63 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
7 goals in one match, Thibaud Verlinden on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of KV Mechelen and Standard Liege.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Gora Diouf 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 earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Radja Lukaku on a 6‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutGora Diouf has become a man the manager trusts
Looking aheadKV Mechelen take on the side everybody is chasing
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tommy St. Jago and KV Mechelen agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Miras 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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 dugout7 Oct 2030
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 Radja Lukaku to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
“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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.26 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dikeni Salifou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gora Diouf 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jenson Jones
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Radja Lukaku on the draw
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Zulte Waregem the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that KV Mechelen will enjoy reviewing.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
30 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Mouscron scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Sint-Truiden go through and KV Mechelen go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dikeni Salifou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 13 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad2 Sep 2030
A muscle injury sidelines Divock Origi for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. KV Mechelen will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thibaud Verlinden provided it, and the 8.56 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thérence Koudou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
A 3‑2 win over KV Oostende, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad26 Aug 2030
Nacho Miras 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.
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.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
Bill Antonio was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Anderlecht; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Radja Lukaku after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. KV Mechelen found something the first half had given no notice of, and Charleroi could not hold what they had.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Standard Liege waiting with a shirt. Nobody at KV Mechelen 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 KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Charleroi made KV Mechelen work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gora Diouf 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.
67 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Miras 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 words a physio says slowly. 75 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.
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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Nacho Miras 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.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and KV Mechelen know now that the thought has arrived.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Simon Courtois has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kevin Boyata has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
“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.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
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 Leo Fuhr Hjelde is on it.
90 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
At 17 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gora Diouf trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid KV Mechelen $1.0M. Keano Vanrafelghem left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. KV Mechelen will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
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.
In brief
The dugoutGora Diouf asks for a word with the manager
104 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Youri Kompany is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Gora Diouf 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.
112 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
“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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
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 Leo Fuhr Hjelde is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KV Mechelen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Nacho Miras 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 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at KV Mechelen. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jenson Jones trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
128 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gora Diouf 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hassane Bandé trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at KV Mechelen. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KV Mechelen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 136 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.
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 Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
KV Mechelen have made the call to Barcelona. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Nacho Miras is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Youri Kompany trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Wim Vanmarsenille has his answer from KV Mechelen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gora Diouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fabián Zambrano 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.
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.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marco Ilaimaharitra and KV Mechelen agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad20 May 2030
Gora Diouf 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marco Ilaimaharitra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
“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.
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 Gora Diouf is on it.
In brief
The dugoutMaksim Kireev asks for a word with the manager
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 Gora Diouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Brandon Mechele has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
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.
25 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.
Thibaud Verlinden and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Miras 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.
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 Leo Fuhr Hjelde is on it.
32 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fredrik Hammar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Thibaud Verlinden is on it.
In brief
The dugoutGora Diouf asks for a word with the manager
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Gora Diouf 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KV Mechelen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brandon Mechele and KV Mechelen agree another 2 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Nacho Miras is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KV Mechelen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
16 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 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 Leo Fuhr Hjelde is on it.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fredrik Hammar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Gora Diouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 KV Mechelen know it.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Miras 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 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 KV Mechelen know 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leo Fuhr Hjelde and KV Mechelen agree another 4 years.
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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Miras 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gora Diouf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KV Mechelen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at KV Mechelen. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Amar Milisic is living that version at KV Mechelen, and it tends to show in the first month.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacho Miras 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
A season average of 7.26 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Nacho Miras 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.
Marked 8.60 — 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.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tommy St. Jago 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutNacho Miras has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutNacho Miras asks for a word with the manager
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
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 Zinho Vanheusden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Zinho Vanheusden is on it.
“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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinho Vanheusden 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Standard Liege had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at KV Mechelen pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Zinho Vanheusden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Zinho Vanheusden has his answer from KV Mechelen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.79 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sint-Truiden will make the call about Zinho Vanheusden this week. KV Mechelen have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 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 Zinho Vanheusden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.61 — 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.
Marked 8.31 — 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 dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Tom Vandenberghe
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Youri Kompany
179Edition
The KV Mechelen Herald
31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondentSteady
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
A brace, and Bill Antonio takes the afternoon — 9.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bill Antonio provided it, and the 9.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinho Vanheusden 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.” Henry Lawrence and KV Mechelen agree another 3 years.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Mouscron were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
Marked 8.02 — 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.
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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksim Kireev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
Maksim Kireev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Brandon Mechele 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.
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 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.
0‑3 against Anderlecht, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fredrik Hammar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at KV Mechelen can tell you which week it ends in.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinho Vanheusden 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.
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.
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 Nacho Miras is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KV Mechelen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lovro Golič will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jenson Jones was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
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 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fredrik Hammar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about KV Mechelen and Waasland-Beveren in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zinho Vanheusden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A performance of 8.47 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Bouke Boersma was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
Player ratingsZayd El Kandoussi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Jenson Jones was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinho Vanheusden 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Radja Lukaku to a room that had heard them before.
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
The dugoutMaksim Kireev knocks on the manager's door
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Nacho Miras
0‑5 against Racing Genk, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tom Vandenberghe 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 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 dugout8 Oct 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑5 Radja Lukaku left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 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: Bill Antonio. 1‑0 against Lokeren, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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.” Radja Lukaku kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
A brace, and Bill Antonio takes the afternoon — 9.15
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bill Antonio provided it, and the 9.15 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lovro Golič will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen 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.
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.
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.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
“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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Jenson Jones 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.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdelmounaim Boutouil has his answer from KV Mechelen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fredrik Hammar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
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.
Marked 8.14 — 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 else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
KV Mechelen close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 10 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Bill Antonio 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 Zinho Vanheusden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thibaud Verlinden and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Aug 2029
José Marsà has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tom Vandenberghe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Radja Lukaku left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Henry Lawrence will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 16 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
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. Barcelona have kept their man, and KV Mechelen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Radja Lukaku left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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.
A point taken on 95 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 17 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
7 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zinho Vanheusden 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Youri Doku is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Radja De Bruyne has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jenson Jones has just signed for KV Mechelen, and for once the answer mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 16 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.
KV Mechelen offered $98.0K; OH Leuven said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter have kept their man, and KV Mechelen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Maksim Kireev
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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Keano Vanrafelghem was one of the reasons people came, and $6.5M does not replace that by itself.
Bill Antonio 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mateus Sousa Alves is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Divock Origi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
KV Mechelen have made the call to Burnley. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thibaud Verlinden trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 22 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Divock Origi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Henry Lawrence will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zinho Vanheusden was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter have kept their man, and KV Mechelen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Zinho Vanheusden is on it.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Zinho Vanheusden may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KV Mechelen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and KV Oostende waiting with a shirt. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Divock Origi 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.
5 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.
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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at KV Mechelen has been clear about where Zinho Vanheusden stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nathan Moineau and KV Mechelen agree another 4 years.
Still no offer on the table, and Wim Vanmarsenille’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Wim Vanmarsenille has, at KV Mechelen, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Henry Lawrence will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KV Mechelen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
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.
Squad21 May 2029
Nacho Miras 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.
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 Thibaud Verlinden is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Moussa Maréga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bill Antonio signs something — a contract at KV Mechelen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías González will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. KV Mechelen will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nacho Miras trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutGora Diouf has become a man the manager trusts
Thibaud Verlinden 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 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 Nacho Miras is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nacho Miras trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
3 goals in 8 games at Sporting Kansas City — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at KV Mechelen updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
“For the first time in years I am picked because somebody wants me in the team.” Standard Liege suits him; the awkward conversation belongs to KV Mechelen, and the summer will force it.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Mike Eerdhuijzen has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen 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 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.
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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Thérence Koudou has written the date down.
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 Hassane Bandé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at KV Mechelen has been clear about where Sören Dutoit stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bill Antonio signs something — a contract at KV Mechelen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Thibaud Verlinden and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ortwin De Wolf signs something — a contract at KV Mechelen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Antoine Lejoly trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at KV Mechelen that is a harder question to answer.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Divock Origi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thibaud Verlinden trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gora Diouf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
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.
“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 KV Mechelen know it.
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 Thibaud Verlinden is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gora Diouf trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KV Mechelen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KV Mechelen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
45 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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Mar 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Henry Lawrence will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen 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 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 KV Mechelen know 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ortwin De Wolf trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gora Diouf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Abdelmounaim Boutouil has his answer from KV Mechelen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Thibaud Verlinden is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdelmounaim Boutouil trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bill Antonio signs something — a contract at KV Mechelen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. KV Mechelen scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Mechelen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason KV Mechelen will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
0‑3 to Club Brugge, 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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Feb 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen 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 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 dugout12 Feb 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Radja Lukaku left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
In brief
The dugoutBill Antonio asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KV Mechelen will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 16 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KV Mechelen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Valenciennes will make the call about Bouke Boersma this week. KV Mechelen have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassane Bandé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
“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.
The phone has started ringing about Bouke Boersma again, and this time the name on the line is Valenciennes. KV Mechelen are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Charleroi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mike Eerdhuijzen 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Anderlecht have kept their man, and KV Mechelen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thibaud Verlinden provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergio Díaz has just signed for KV Mechelen, and for once the answer mattered.
The deal with KV Kortrijk is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gora Diouf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Abdelmounaim Boutouil.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Keano Vanrafelghem provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mike Eerdhuijzen 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: Keano Vanrafelghem. 2‑0 against Mouscron, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
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.” Radja Lukaku kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“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.
Thibaud Verlinden 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.
8.31. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thérence Koudou commits to KV Mechelen for another 3 years.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at KV Mechelen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hassane Bandé is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at 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.
It needed Thibaud Verlinden to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against KV Kortrijk, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Thibaud Verlinden 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 Mike Eerdhuijzen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at KV Mechelen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Radja Lukaku on the draw
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KV Mechelen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Nacho Miras was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nacho Miras trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nils Schouterden will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KV Mechelen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
7 goals in one match, Keano Vanrafelghem on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of KV Mechelen and Charleroi.
Beaten 6 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hassane Bandé was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutJosé Marsà is still being punished for one mistake