Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Bodrum FK to sit and watch. I want to come back to Westerlo and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Tomás Pérez left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Fernand Gouré and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
A brace, and Fernand Gouré takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fernand Gouré provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Position 3, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sint-Truiden next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yassine Khalifi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Beerschot 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.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Westerlo, another week without a signature from Claudio Cristallo.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Westerlo has been clear about where Serhiy Sydorchuk stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shunsuke Saito trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fernand Gouré 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakob Kiilerich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bas Evers will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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 11 say he has earned the hearing.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Westerlo told Clément Billemaz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Westerlo has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Setigui Karamoko 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yohei Takaoka is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Westerlo can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yentl Van Genechten will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Westerlo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Matthew Anderson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Yohei Takaoka now has 25 of them across 253 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon belonged to Fernand Gouré
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yassine Khalifi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Westerlo know it.
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.
12 combined actions and 6.88. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The mood at Westerlo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nachon Nsingi is living that version at Westerlo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ebbe De Vlaeminck will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Yentl Van Genechten has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Francs Borains moved on, Junior Diouf reports back to Westerlo, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
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.
Westerlo offered $430.0K; RAAL La Louviere 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.
Westerlo asked and Anderlecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Charleroi go through and Westerlo go home, 3‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $136.0K of what Westerlo paid for Maxim Deman is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Westerlo can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Westerlo close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 13 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.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Eliot Bujupi decided nobody was going anywhere. Waasland-Beveren had no time left to answer.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Waasland-Beveren waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yassine Khalifi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$430.0K on the table at RAAL La Louviere. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Holstein Kiel have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakob Kiilerich 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.
Westerlo have made the call to Racing Genk. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Westerlo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
$410.0K was the most the club would pay and RAAL La Louviere 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
Westerlo asked and KAA Gent said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Matthew Anderson 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.
“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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sint-Truiden waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Ebbe De Vlaeminck has come up in conversations Westerlo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Westerlo have done the hard part with Racing Genk, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Westerlo asked and RAAL La Louviere said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
7 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The name of Junior Diouf has come up in conversations Westerlo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Sint-Truiden, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cercle Brugge keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Doğucan Haspolat and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Westerlo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Westerlo can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Westerlo asked and Zulte Waregem said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fernand Gouré 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Westerlo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
$470.0K on the table at RAAL La Louviere. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Fernand Gouré 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.
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 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.
Cercle Brugge 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.
“I have supported clubs like this one. I know what a bad Saturday feels like here.” The new man starts with nothing behind him and everything in front of him.
The offer from Beerschot for Junior Diouf 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Cercle Brugge is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zulte Waregem have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The 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.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Doğucan Haspolat has taken the hint, and Westerlo are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 offer from FCI Levadia for Daniel Epanya 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cercle Brugge is saying, and nobody at Westerlo is enjoying the guessing.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Bas Evers again, and this time the name on the line is Flora. Westerlo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Manisa FK will make the call about Hüseyin Ertürk this week. Westerlo have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Westerlo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michée Ndembi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Club Brugge have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Matthew Anderson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Westerlo have made the call to Cercle Brugge. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Westerlo will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Westerlo and RAAL La Louviere have settled on $560.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
10 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yassine Khalifi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Westerlo heard it as anything else.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Fernand Gouré 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.
30 appearances and 1 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pape Diong 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Westerlo will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thérence Koudou trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Westerlo can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eden De Ketelaere is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Timothy Chadli has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Westerlo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 clean sheets from 27 appearances at RFC Liege. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Westerlo have no good answer.
Malick Mbaye has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yassine Khalifi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Matthew Anderson 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 May 2029
Pape Diong falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Westerlo told Malick Mbaye something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 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.
Matthew Anderson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Westerlo are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gaku Shibasaki has written the date down.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Westerlo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
16 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Diouf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pape Diong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
27 appearances at RFC Liege and the goals have stopped going in. Westerlo lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A muscle injury sidelines Malick Mbaye for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Westerlo will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Westerlo says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
The mood at Westerlo has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fernand Gouré 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Westerlo can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
Something was said to Cisse Sandra and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Noah Fatar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 shut-outs in 26 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Ebbe De Vlaeminck has been having a lot of them.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Westerlo will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Setigui Karamoko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shunsuke Saito trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Matthew Anderson 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
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.
“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.
Fernand Gouré 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.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Noah Fatar 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 young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Westerlo who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
In brief
The dugoutthe manager answers for it
The dugoutA fresh start for Malick Mbaye under the new man
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fernand Gouré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Westerlo are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
23 appearances at RFC Liege and the goals have stopped going in. Westerlo lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Yannick Chadli after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Diouf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Westerlo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
Westerlo asked and Antwerp said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The goal that put Union SG ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Westerlo equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“I watch every Westerlo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KAA Gent runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Westerlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yentl Van Genechten is living that version at Westerlo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The shirt still fits. Yentl Van Genechten 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.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and the manager clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Waasland-Beveren spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Clermont Foot waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Yannick Chadli recited it perfectly.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Westerlo close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 5 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.
Fernand Gouré and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Westerlo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Westerlo have done the hard part with Holstein Kiel, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Westerlo asked and Ajax said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Seraing waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Westerlo asked and Standard Liege said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Karol Borys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Westerlo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Ndoh Wamfor has gone, the accounts have $1.0M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
“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.
Everything agreed with Racing Genk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Sint-Truiden paid $1.0M and Westerlo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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 offer from Standard Liege for Karol Borys 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.
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.
Fernand Gouré and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The name of Michée Ndembi has come up in conversations Westerlo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Takumi Tsuchiya and Westerlo agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
Westerlo asked and Charleroi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Emiliano Reyes has, at Westerlo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Fernand Gouré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Karol Borys 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Westerlo can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 5 appearances in 26 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” the manager kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Westerlo know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
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.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Gabriel Barbosa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Westerlo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Gabriel Barbosa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Westerlo know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Position 15, 12 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Westerlo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Westerlo, another week without a signature from Thérence Koudou.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rowan Besselink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Westerlo has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Afonso Patrão trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Westerlo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fernand Gouré and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Racing Genk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Westerlo will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yassine Khalifi is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Noah Fatar
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Westerlo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 7.71 for the rest of it.
Fernand Gouré and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Gabriel Barbosa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Noah Fatar 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 Oct 2028
the manager has his say
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” the manager on a 4‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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 dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Shunsuke Saito's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Zulte Waregem were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
A 1‑0 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maxim Deman has his answer from Westerlo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Gabriel Barbosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Noah Fatar has his answer from Westerlo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Yohei Takaoka’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Westerlo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Westerlo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
9 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.
Gabriel Barbosa 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Westerlo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Yohei Takaoka's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
Half-satisfied: the manager 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
“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.
14 seasons and 314 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thérence Koudou 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Westerlo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
7.76, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The goal that put KV Mechelen ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Westerlo equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Westerlo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
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 7.01 for the rest of it.
Fernand Gouré 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noah Fatar, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Gabriel Barbosa was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Genoa have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Yohei Takaoka is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“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.
“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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yassine Khalifi is on it.
Lommel go through and Westerlo go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“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 arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $466.8K of what Westerlo paid for Abian Arslan is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Westerlo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 22 signed and 31 gone
That is the business done at Westerlo until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Gabriel Barbosa 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yohei Takaoka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — the manager made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Westerlo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Gabriel Barbosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Yohei Takaoka 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newcastle United have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I watch every Westerlo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KAA Gent runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 22 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Olympic Charleroi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Westerlo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fernand Gouré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yohei Takaoka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Westerlo know it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Westerlo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ajax is saying, and nobody at Westerlo is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yohei Takaoka 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.
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
The clause was met, the call was short, and Westerlo lost a manager the way you lose an umbrella — suddenly, and to somebody who could simply afford it. the manager goes up in the world; the club goes back to the shortlist.
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Fernand Gouré is a Westerlo player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Westerlo did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
Westerlo offered $1.5M; RFC 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Fernand Gouré from RAAL La Louviere for $3.9M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yohei Takaoka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
$3.9M settles it between the clubs for Fernand Gouré
RAAL La Louviere have accepted the money. What Westerlo do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Sere Matsumura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utrecht have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Daniel Epanya again, and this time the name on the line is Hatayspor. Westerlo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Seiji Kimura was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Doğucan Haspolat had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The chase for Hüseyin Ertürk ended with $1.1M changing hands and Waasland-Beveren out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Hüseyin Ertürk from Waasland-Beveren for $1.1M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thérence Koudou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Westerlo asked and Standard Liege said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Zulte Waregem have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Lucas Mbamba. The answer from Westerlo has not changed — yet.
Westerlo did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
The offer went to Waasland-Beveren this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Westerlo will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yohei Takaoka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It 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.
Bas Evers is 19, 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.
“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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Westerlo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Westerlo have done the hard part with KAA Gent, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Westerlo offered $1.0M; Racing Genk said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KAA Gent have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Yohei Takaoka falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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.
6 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.
Westerlo asked and Club Brugge said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.1M — a club that wants Fadel Gobitaka enough to be asked twice.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Westerlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Ebbe De Vlaeminck again, and this time the name on the line is Francs Borains. Westerlo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Issa Maréga 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Westerlo know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The offer from Olympic Charleroi for Doğucan Haspolat 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.
“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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Botond Balogh was one of the reasons people came, and $6.3M does not replace that by itself.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Takumi Tsuchiya has, at Westerlo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The offer went to Racing Genk this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Anderlecht keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Westerlo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Westerlo did not want this conversation and are having it anyway. A manager wanted elsewhere is a manager whose next contract talk just became more expensive.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yohei Takaoka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nottingham Forest have kept their man, and Westerlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Westerlo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
27 games, 7 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Westerlo now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Maréga 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.
Seiji Kimura 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yohei Takaoka 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.
Sere Matsumura 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Felix Tsimba signs something — a contract at Westerlo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Yohei Takaoka has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Botond Balogh
BoardroomThe Westerlo production line keeps running
Sere Matsumura 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.
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
Seiji Kimura 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Isa Sakamoto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Westerlo has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Zsombor Riba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Issa Maréga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I 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 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad8 May 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Botond Balogh
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Botond Balogh has come out of that comparison in the side, and Westerlo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Abian Arslan has written the date down.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
Yohei Takaoka 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.
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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Westerlo will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Serhiy Sydorchuk has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Noah Fatar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Zsombor Riba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Isa Sakamoto falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Westerlo told Sere Matsumura something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Felix Tsimba signs something — a contract at Westerlo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Sere Matsumura was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” the manager kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad10 Apr 2028
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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Zsombor Riba
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Add another name to the list: Haugesund have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Junior Diouf. The answer from Westerlo has not changed — yet.
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 Serhiy Sydorchuk.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Westerlo will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“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.
Sere Matsumura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isa Sakamoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Westerlo told Botond Balogh something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Isa Sakamoto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Isa Sakamoto signs something — a contract at Westerlo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Westerlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yohei Takaoka 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.
Sere Matsumura 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
7 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.
7 goals in 23 games at Beerschot — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Westerlo updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lommel in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Westerlo has been clear about where Felix Tsimba stands, which is more than many ever get.
14 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 Feb 2028
Yohei Takaoka 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.
Sere Matsumura and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Axel Nainggolan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dedryck Carrasco has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Charles Onana has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Axel Carrasco is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 7.22, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Westerlo know it.
“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.
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.
Sere Matsumura 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.
“I watch every Westerlo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kayserispor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” the manager, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Abian Arslan
The dugoutNoah Fatar dropped after a run of poor form
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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.74, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. RWDM had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thomas Van Den Keybus provided it, and the 8.36 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Westerlo close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 4 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Westerlo and Jong Gent, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Yohei Takaoka 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Westerlo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Position 3, 41 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The phone has started ringing about Felix Tsimba again, and this time the name on the line is EA Guingamp. Westerlo are listening politely and promising nothing.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: LOSC Lille keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
RAAL La Louviere pay $420.0K, 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Isa Sakamoto 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.
Sere Matsumura was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
“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 32 say he has earned the hearing.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Westerlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koen Van Langendonck is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I 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.