“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 2 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Andreas Jungdal knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A 2-1 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 2 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Westerlo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Andreas Jungdal knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Koen Van Langendonck reports back to Westerlo with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Koen Van Langendonck is 38, with 187 appearances behind him, and Westerlo will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
0-3 to Sint-Truiden, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Andreas Jungdal: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
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.
Waasland-Beveren pay $3.8M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Thorgan Witsel is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Andreas Jungdal knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Westerlo has been clear about where Arno Van Keilegom stands, which is more than many ever get.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Westerlo have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Westerlo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Afonso Patrão
The fee is $580.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. KV Oostende drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
The shirt still fits. Hans Alderweireld is back at Westerlo, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A season-long audition: Club Brugge still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Westerlo's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
The name of Ndoh Wamfor has come up in conversations Westerlo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Westerlo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Westerlo has been clear about where Koen Van Langendonck stands, which is more than many ever get.
A new face in his position, and Benoît Costil suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Westerlo have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Sint-Truiden pay $570.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The name of Jeremías Correale has come up in conversations Westerlo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Doğucan Haspolat plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
“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.
“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.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Andreas Jungdal plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Westerlo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Enis Destan has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 3 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Benoît Costil will call it something else in private.
“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.
“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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Westerlo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 3 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Pau Bosch is 39 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
0-3 to Mouscron, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“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.
The fee is $250.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Lokeren drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Andreas Jungdal knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Westerlo pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Westerlo pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Westerlo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 3 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
Jeremías Correale is 20, and Westerlo have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Andreas Jungdal knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Doğucan Haspolat may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
A 2-1 win over Waasland-Beveren, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Westerlo have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
“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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Louis Bracke is 20, and Westerlo have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
“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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Westerlo that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
“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.
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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Westerlo, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Livio Milts arrives at Westerlo with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Mehdi Bounou arrives at Westerlo with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“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.
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.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Benoît Costil is 39, with 0 appearances behind him, and Westerlo will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Ben Thys arrives at Westerlo with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Andreas Jungdal knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Westerlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The name of Afonso Patrão has come up in conversations Westerlo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Westerlo have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Fatihan Kâhya, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
A new face in his position, and Benoît Costil suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Westerlo have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“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.
0-3 to Club Brugge, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.