From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Thomas Van Den Keybus 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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 dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Bernard Nguene
“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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Seiji Kimura asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Dylan Ourega keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Westerlo say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Westerlo will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Westerlo did not have in the autumn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cisse Sandra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Werder Bremen have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Felix Tsimba gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Half-satisfied: Michy Openda on the draw
“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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Point won or two lost for Westerlo?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Standard Liege? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Serhiy Sydorchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Kévin Monnet-Paquet 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Nikola Storm beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Isa Sakamoto 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Pape Diong makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Michy Openda after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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
Upbeat
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cambuur waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Reda Laalaoui, 21, steals the show — 8.02
Marked 8.02 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Westerlo close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 0 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
No thanks: Leon Šipoš rejects the move
Westerlo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Reggiana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Thomas Van Den Keybus was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Pape Diong runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Grasshopper have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match30 Jan 2027
Lokeren made Westerlo work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Felix Tsimba has come up in conversations Westerlo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Anderlecht, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
Match23 Jan 2027
A point taken on 89 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Reggiana have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lilian Deville and Westerlo agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Marked 7.66 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. DC United have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
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.
Match16 Jan 2027
A 2‑0 win over Zulte Waregem, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The team sheet said everything about Isa Sakamoto
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 Isa Sakamoto.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Cisse Sandra
7.97, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Westerlo had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
In brief
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The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Isa Sakamoto
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
No place for Junior Ngambi in the new shape
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Felix Tsimba, 20, steals the show — 7.64
Marked 7.64 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match9 Jan 2027
The drought breaks for Westerlo
8 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Standard Liege, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A move Ervin Piric would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ervin Piric is living that version at Westerlo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Serhiy Sydorchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Felix Tsimba 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Felix Tsimba. 1‑0 against Mouscron, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isa Sakamoto 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
KV Kortrijk left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 47 days on the sidelines for Shunsuke Saito, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Clinton Nsiala, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Westerlo have made the call to Standard Liege. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Dec 2026
7 matches without a win for Westerlo
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Westerlo are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Dec 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
4 matches without a goal for Westerlo
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Van Den Keybus 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Half-satisfied: Michy Openda on the draw
“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 dugout28 Dec 2026
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. KV Oostende will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Seiji Kimura asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Dec 2026
6 matches without a win for Westerlo
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Westerlo are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Isa Sakamoto 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Westerlo
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Westerlo can tell you which week it ends in.
Match19 Dec 2026
Anderlecht left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Michy Openda to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bernard Nguene, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Westerlo told Fernand Gouré something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Westerlo
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fernand Gouré and Westerlo agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Michy Openda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad14 Dec 2026
One booking too many, and Nikola Storm sits out. Westerlo lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Bernard Nguene
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.
Match12 Dec 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Charleroi defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Van Den Keybus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Dec 2026
Sint-Truiden left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fatihan Kâhya commits to Westerlo for another 4 years.
The dugout7 Dec 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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 4.36, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Andreas Jungdal
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Cisse Sandra 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Michy Openda after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
He came on with the match going nowhere and left it settled. Westerlo had the right man on the bench, and for once the timing was right too.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Dylan Ourega keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Westerlo say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Nikola Storm beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad23 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Reda Laalaoui 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Michy Openda was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Westerlo dressing room was either.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Westerlo lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Point won or two lost for Westerlo?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Waasland-Beveren? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market23 Nov 2026
The Isa Sakamoto story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Isa Sakamoto signs something — a contract at Westerlo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
29 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Van Den Keybus 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 ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amando Lapage and Westerlo agree another 4 years.
Match14 Nov 2026
A point taken on 93 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
It needed Fernand Gouré to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Club Brugge, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Michy Openda after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shunsuke Saito, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Nov 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Felix Tsimba scored in the 88th minute, KV Mechelen had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Westerlo took the lot.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Doğucan Haspolat 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Van Den Keybus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Felix Tsimba 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Felix Tsimba. 1‑0 against KV Mechelen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Pape Diong and Westerlo agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match9 Nov 2026
Halfway: Westerlo sit in position 6
26 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.38 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Westerlo had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Nikola Storm beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Nikola Storm
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nikola Storm has come out of that comparison in the side, and Westerlo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amando Lapage, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Reda Laalaoui 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Match31 Oct 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Standard Liege defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Looking ahead2 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against KV Mechelen in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
After 9 games, Westerlo finally taste it again
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Racing Genk; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Racing Genk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Michy Openda after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pape Diong, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Standard Liege next, and one man in the Westerlo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Nikola Storm scored in the 87th minute, Lokeren had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Westerlo took the lot.
Match17 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Westerlo
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Oct 2026
62 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
Three points for Westerlo, 2‑1 the final word against Lokeren in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces19 Oct 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.33 — 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cisse Sandra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Oct 2026
OH Leuven will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Westerlo were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Westerlo do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Botond Balogh and Westerlo agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Westerlo are still strangers to each other
11 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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
Cisse Sandra runs at them all day
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Player ratings
A defender's afternoon for Dylan Ourega
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Bernard Nguene at 20 — 8.20
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Bernard Nguene did not need any: 8.20, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Westerlo do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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 terraces5 Oct 2026
At 20 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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The form table has caught Isa Sakamoto
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match3 Oct 2026
It needed Bernard Nguene to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Zulte Waregem, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Nikola Storm beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 45. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Westerlo
Thomas Van Den Keybus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Westerlo do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Cisse Sandra 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amando Lapage, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Michy Openda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Mouscron will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Zulte Waregem next, and one man in the Westerlo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Nikola Storm beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Westerlo
Doğucan Haspolat and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Michy Openda chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Eliot Bujupi, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Westerlo would like this to lead.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
David Amegnaglo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Westerlo 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Amando Lapage asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.79, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Eliot Bujupi, 20, 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 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match12 Sep 2026
Westerlo cannot stop winning
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Isa Sakamoto’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Westerlo.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Westerlo ran out of time with Standard Liege. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting CP have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces14 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Standard Liege; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
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 7.86 for the rest of it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Westerlo close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 2 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Westerlo
Thomas Van Den Keybus 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Charleroi have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
He is 22 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Three points for Westerlo, 1‑0 the final word against Anderlecht in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 57. 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.
Match26 Aug 2026
Standard Liege ended it 0‑0. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad31 Aug 2026
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Market31 Aug 2026
Westerlo say no — this time
The offer from Thun for Cisse Sandra was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Felix Tsimba, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Westerlo
Thomas Van Den Keybus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Westerlo offered $100.0K; Standard Liege 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
At 20 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
Crisis
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Standard Liege; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$3.5M was the most the club would pay and KAA Gent were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Westerlo
Serhiy Sydorchuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match22 Aug 2026
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Nikola Storm had Westerlo level again within 4 minutes, and Sint-Truiden never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$5.8M was the most the club would pay and Mouscron were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Felix Tsimba at 20 — 7.73
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Felix Tsimba did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Westerlo have gone to Standard Liege with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Thomas Van Den Keybus 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
KAA Gent left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cisse Sandra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Aug 2026
Westerlo win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Waasland-Beveren will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Westerlo have gone to Mouscron with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$3.5M on the table at KAA Gent. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
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
A falling-out at Westerlo
Thomas Van Den Keybus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Westerlo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
He is 22 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
280 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Westerlo know exactly what they have.
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. Thomas Van Den Keybus 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Late, late show earns Westerlo a point
Minute 94, against Club Brugge, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Doğucan Haspolat’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Nick Oyekunle is in the works
Westerlo have made the call to Southampton. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.