The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zulte Waregem people have started saying his name 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 Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and OH Leuven 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Zulte Waregem 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 mood at Zulte Waregem 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.
8 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Zulte Waregem have gone to OH Leuven with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Enrique Lofolomo and Zulte Waregem agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem 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.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marley Aké has his answer from Zulte Waregem; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Alessandro Bertoni made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zulte Waregem can tell you which week it ends in.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Brent Gabriel 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokeren waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zulte Waregem have done the hard part with Racing Genk, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Dedryck Courtois 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Zulte Waregem
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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.
Zulte Waregem asked and Rubin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Youri Vertonghen 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. Yannick Lukaku 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 15 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zulte Waregem have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bayer Leverkusen 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gornik Zabrze have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jevon Simons commits to Zulte Waregem for another 5 years.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Brent Gabriel 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.
11 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.
Zulte Waregem asked and Wolverhampton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bayer Leverkusen 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.
“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 Zulte Waregem, 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.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
The offer from KV Oostende for Tobias Hedl 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.
Zulte Waregem asked and Waasland-Beveren said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kelechi Idegwu is living that version at Zulte Waregem, and it tends to show in the first month.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokeren waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
Position 15 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Lokeren moved on, Tobias Hedl reports back to Zulte Waregem, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
$720.0K on the table at Racing Genk. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Brent Gabriel 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.
Zulte Waregem asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee is $980.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Mouscron drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Salim Diakité 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 chase for Fady Khatir ended with $150.0K changing hands and KV Kortrijk out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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.
Zulte Waregem have made the call to Club Brugge. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
$1.9M on the table at Charleroi. 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 Zulte Waregem 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.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Zulte Waregem is running low.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zulte Waregem. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutJoris Delle knocks on the manager’s door
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 15 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Salim Diakité 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Melvin Jambry has just signed for Zulte Waregem, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Melvin Jambry is 20, and Zulte Waregem 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.
A new face in his position, and Thomas Claes suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Zulte Waregem have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Thomas Claes 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Benoît Costil has written the date down.
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.
“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 Zulte Waregem, 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 Zulte Waregem 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 Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pape Paye trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
4 goals in 25 games at De Graafschap — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Zulte Waregem updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Zulte Waregem is running low.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Salim Diakité and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Brent Gabriel 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Jelle Vossen is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 15 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Thomas Claes 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eden Vanaken 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. Nacer Fellaini 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. Yannick Lukaku 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.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thomas Claes signs something — a contract at Zulte Waregem or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Salim Diakité and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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.” Louis Bostyn has his answer from Zulte Waregem; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zulte Waregem know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Zulte Waregem says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Zulte Waregem, 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 Zulte Waregem 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 Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Anton Tanghe and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Jelle Vossen is playing like a man with something to prove
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Jelle Vossen is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces29 Mar 2027
The mood at Zulte Waregem 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.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Salim Diakité 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 Mar 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andres Labie and Zulte Waregem agree another 4 years.
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 Benoît Costil has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutBaboye Traoré knocks on the manager’s door
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Pape Paye
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Salim Diakité 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 Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thomas Claes signs something — a contract at Zulte Waregem 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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
14 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zulte Waregem know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Jevon Simons’s exile
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“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; Simon Courtois recited it perfectly.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jelle Vossen and Zulte Waregem agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
news_h_severance_paid
news_b_severance_paid
In brief
The dugoutA fresh start for Jelle Vossen under the new man
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Tobias Hedl
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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 much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zulte Waregem told Wilguens Paugain something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jahir Scott 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Salim Diakité 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 Thomas Claes 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 Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thomas Claes signs something — a contract at Zulte Waregem or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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.
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 Benoît Costil has written the date down.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zulte Waregem can tell you which week it ends in.
Salim Diakité and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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 player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Anton Tanghe will call it something else in private.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The offer from Mouscron for Nikola Mituljikić 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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.
100 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Benoît Costil will call it something else in private.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Zulte Waregem 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.
Add another name to the list: Mouscron have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nikola Mituljikić. The answer from Zulte Waregem has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Ajax arrived with $4.3M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Anosike Ementa has gone, the accounts have $4.3M 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.
Salim Diakité 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Paris Irie is living that version at Zulte Waregem, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The deal with Inter 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel 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. Seattle Sounders have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Waasland-Beveren will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zulte Waregem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dedryck Courtois did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Add another name to the list: Charleroi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jakob Kiilerich. The answer from Zulte Waregem has not changed — yet.
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 7.80 for the rest of it.
Zulte Waregem had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Grasshopper, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Brent Gabriel 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Thomas Claes 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thomas Claes has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mamadou Sakho
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Zulte Waregem is running low.
0‑4 to Club Brugge, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Position 14 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zulte Waregem can tell you which week it ends in.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Simon De Bruyne to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Benoît Costil
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.
In brief
Looking aheadA test against the best for Zulte Waregem
Brent Gabriel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Claes 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 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zulte Waregem can tell you which week it ends in.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Nobody at Zulte Waregem is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Laurent Lemoine’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zulte Waregem needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Brent Gabriel 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Nobody at Zulte Waregem is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Zulte Waregem is running low.
Brent Gabriel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Claes 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. OH Leuven will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dedryck Courtois did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem 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 Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zulte Waregem told Brent Gabriel something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Benoît Costil
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Simon De Bruyne chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Mamadou Sakho
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Brent Gabriel 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 Nov 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youssoupha Mbodji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 13, 11 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.
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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Simon De Bruyne to a room that had heard them before.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zulte Waregem may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Brent Gabriel 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Thomas Claes has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
0‑3 to Anderlecht, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Brent Gabriel 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zulte Waregem can tell you which week it ends in.
Brent Gabriel 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssoupha Mbodji 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.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
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.
Salim Diakité 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Brent Gabriel 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Zulte Waregem are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.99, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“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 dugout5 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Benoît Costil
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.
“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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anosike Ementa provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Brent Gabriel 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: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssoupha Mbodji 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Waasland-Beveren scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
0‑5 to Club Brugge, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Gabriel 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 touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Zulte Waregem will not try tonight.
Zulte Waregem offered $740.0K; 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.
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.
0‑1 to KV Mechelen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and Zulte Waregem are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutBenoît Costil dropped after a run of poor form
The offer from KAA Gent for Thomas Claes 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 Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 23 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Zulte Waregem 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.
$740.0K on the table at Racing Genk. 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 Zulte Waregem 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.
Zulte Waregem ran out of time with Standard Liege. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Standard Liege 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zulte Waregem asked and KV Oostende said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 dugout31 Aug 2026
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 0‑2 Simon De Bruyne left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Malick Mbaye was one of the reasons people came, and $3.1M does not replace that by itself.
Zulte Waregem offered $2.9M; Anderlecht 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.
The offer went to Standard Liege 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.
Everything agreed with KV Oostende, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Brent Gabriel 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.
In brief
SquadJakob Kiilerich falls out with a teammate over standards
“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.
The offer went to Anderlecht 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 offer from Lokeren for Tobias Hedl 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.
Zulte Waregem 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 deal with KV Mechelen 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Grasshopper is saying, and nobody at Zulte Waregem is enjoying the guessing.
The phone has started ringing about Malick Mbaye again, and this time the name on the line is KV Kortrijk. Zulte Waregem are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youssoupha Mbodji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Anosike Ementa at his very best
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.25 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The deal with Grasshopper 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brent Gabriel and Zulte Waregem agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brent Gabriel 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. Leander Carrasco 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. Mousa 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yannick Mignolet is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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 Zulte Waregem, 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Zulte Waregem 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.