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.
Back issues
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.