From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market9 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Enis Destan gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Emin Bayram falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match7 Nov 2026
It needed Isa Sakamoto to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against KV Mechelen, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match2 Nov 2026
Westerlo sink to position 14
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ayman Kari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 170% of everything Westerlo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match31 Oct 2026
Standard Liege left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Mouscron to sit and watch. I want to come back to Westerlo and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
3‑0, and Ethan Mbappé took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Westerlo tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Ethan Mbappé at 19 — 9.30
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ethan Mbappé did not need any: 9.30, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Serhiy Sydorchuk, 35, rolls back the years — 8.58
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.58 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Clinton Nsiala: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Westerlo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
26 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
At 19, Ethan Mbappé is already the best thing here
An average of 7.07 in a first team he is several years too young for. Westerlo have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Serhiy Sydorchuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Emin Bayram at his very best
Marked 9.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Westerlo.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Jo Coppens 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Westerlo
0‑3 against Lokeren, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match17 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Westerlo
8 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Serhiy Sydorchuk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
David Amegnaglo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Westerlo
7 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Doğucan Haspolat and Westerlo agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Oskar Annell is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
4.32. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match5 Oct 2026
Westerlo are in real trouble now
Position 14, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Westerlo
6 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bakary Haïdara in trouble away from the ground
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Ayman Kari runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Enis Destan 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 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Fatihan Kâhya is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 279% of everything Westerlo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Westerlo
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Westerlo are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Westerlo
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Enis Destan, and the manager let it.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Mouscron, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Emin Bayram falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Westerlo
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Westerlo are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Doğucan Haspolat 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ayman Kari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match19 Sep 2026
KV Kortrijk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Ayman Kari
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Isa Sakamoto, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Jo Coppens dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
The one thing Fernand Gouré could not do
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Shots: 6, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Jo Coppens 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ayman Kari knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ayman Kari trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The spotlight tightens on Enis Destan
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Enis Destan could not find anything
5.52. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.62 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Anderlecht left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
191% of the income goes out in wages at Westerlo
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emin Bayram is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Jo Coppens
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
Westerlo through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Standard Liege, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Westerlo can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ndoh Wamfor, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.92
A mark of 7.92 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Tekio for 17 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Westerlo will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayman Kari 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 44 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Reda Laalaoui, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.79
A mark of 8.79 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Westerlo did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Enis Destan 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Serhiy Sydorchuk 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
At 21 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
There were 12 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Ethan Mbappé at 19 — 8.96
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ethan Mbappé did not need any: 8.96, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Ayman Kari runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
At 19 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Van Den Keybus, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Emin Bayram 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Shunsuke Saito is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Westerlo has been clear about where Shunsuke Saito stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match15 Aug 2026
It needed Ethan Mbappé to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against KAA Gent, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Eliot Bujupi at 20 — 7.61
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Eliot Bujupi did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Serhiy Sydorchuk, 35, rolls back the years — 7.98
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.98 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andreas Jungdal commits to Westerlo for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayman Kari 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 terraces10 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Emin Bayram has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Doğucan Haspolat and Westerlo agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Doğucan Haspolat 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 Aug 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.