Pelotas

Apparently, Jonathan Panzo is on his way to OH Leuven. Another free agent, as his contract at Birmingham ended this summer. Edit: despite various sources saying the deal was done. Latest now is Panzo ultimately not given a contract due to fitness concerns. Good decision ofc, but concerning that the current player pool looked at leads to unfit free agents. At least the women are in the Champions League again and we get some Europa League action at Den Dreef through Union SG. 🙄

Lol... moving up out of the relegation zone without playing a match this wknd

Of course, but most clubs always assume they can sell their players for way more than in reality, all I'm saying. e.g. amounts I've heard for Nyakossi are crazy.

Epolo a bit overrated imho https://youtu.be/prN6NbOKA_g

I fail to see how Standard could afford Leysen and why Leysen would want to go there in the first place. He can do better, if Burnley was in play that says smth…

Yes indeed, but Simons does not want to park the bus. Even against Club Brugge in the second half I think we had equal possession and were regularly on the attacking half… I can appreciate that, we had a chance to make 1-1. Trying to hold on for a draw often fails anyway and a win pays off more anyways. Against Charleroi we were down to ten men early on as well… No recent updates wrt Ikwuemesi, Opoku, or Leysen. Nyakossi to Mönchengladbach was rumoured. Regarding new signings: seems like players need to leave before we sign new ones I’m afraid, although I’m sure we’ll loan some or sign for free on deadline day as always

Bench vs Charleroi no? btw Mathieu Maertens named as possible new signing at newly promoted Cambuur. If so I’m off to Friesland for a match this season

Well… moving to 18 teams mostly. Gaps will be bigger, middle of the table teams play for nothing from January, and second division is near dead with the 11 remaining Pro teams and 4 U23 teams no one comes to watch. Reform was made especially for Club Brugge, because 16 plus playoffs makes 40 MDs which is too much for them as they understandably want to focus on the shitload of money they get in Europe. Everyone knew it was bad but they couldnt get to an agreement sooner, in the end Club Brugge bought the votes of smaller teams with the entry fee for the U23 teams in second div and changed the relegation rules of the running season so that the U23s of Genk would not be relegated (acquiring the crucial vote of Genk). In the end we move from a league of 40 MDs (of which a lot of matchups between big teams) and excitement until the end, to a league of 34 matches with less quality matches (2 small teams added and fewer big team clashes), with much less excitement as most will often be decided by March or April, while middle of the table teams will play for nothing from January. In short: league should move to fewer teams ASAP, probably 12 or 14 as is the case in same size countries like Scotland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria… but with fewer teams we’ll probably indeed need playoffs again to have sufficient matches… and second division should be hugely upgraded and invested in by the league. Remove the u23s no one comes to watch and share some of the income from Europe and tv. On OHL and the need for strong tall defs: our 2meter tall newcomer is on the bench.

Indeed, major issue is that with Simons' playing style you need an excellent goalkeeper as you also give away more opportunities. Van den Heuvel did not look very good… But indeed, Club Brugge is too strong, too wealthy and too powerful right now for the Belgian league. They sell players probably worth more than OHL as a club. There is no shame in losing to them and it could have been more. Best thing to happen is for Club to run away from the rest as soon as possible and take away hope from the rest, as the league needs to be reformed asap again, format is bad for Belgium except for the very wealthy.

Ours is already 6ft7, really would be quite a sight. Next match we’re up against Sideshow Bob (Marlon Fossey) as well, so really I support any fruit up there for a good hair matchup.

Good news of the weekend, Kortrijk also not playing coming weekend so we can’t sink any further

NP... at least it's official now: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7506096/2026/08/11/leicester-city-sale-king-power/

Where does this info come from so suddenly? Would explain why we’ve only signed free agents and loan players until now

where there’s smoke… why involve Citi and look for possible buyers? Maybe the sale doesn’t happen soon, maybe the rumour of an interested buyer is just to spark interest from other candidates, but it adds up with the financial struggles KP is having in their core business so I personally do think Leicester is for sale and will be sold ultimately in one of the next few seasons. And when that happens… I see no use in KP then keeping OHL. It would be the only club in their portfolio and due to geographical proximity and easier (and relatively cheap) access to football for foreign footballers (visa) it would make sense to keep both clubs in the same portfolio. So in short yes I believe OHL is/will be part of the sale.

I agree… and still Maertens always came in strong and Maziz still stood out when he had his moments (fewer and fewer). Just to point out that it’s not like all the players that are staying were top notch last season

Ok, have not seen any team live so can’t judge. by the way: Verlinden out for months… and ofc we also let go Maziz and Maertens. Respectively inconsistent and past his peak, but both still very useful. I mean not to be pessimistic, but from an outside pov you might as well ask questions as you see a typically mid table team depart with quite a few players, bring in relatively unknown players all for free or on loan… but I also have a good feeling… about the squad that is, not the season, flat18 ruins a lot.

Ok so in short… a few nice matches and staying out of the relegation zone is the aim. Would be good, I really hope we don’t finish the season in January, but very afraid we will finish somewhere in boring middle (region 7-14). Cup semifinal would be nice, although quarter final is best we ever could reach. Looking at the squad, we really need these transfers to be bullseyes… especially since Leysen, Nyakossi and Ikwuemesi will still leave… and maybe Opoku as well. Hoping Traoré & Kayo also fully come to surface. On the other teams: always difficult to say, but I expect a lot of Lommel as the supporters will carry them imho.

Question is what will it lead to… what does everyone here believe is needed to afterwards say we had a good season? I mean we’re mid-table team and never finished higher than tenth… are we happy with say 7th or 8th or need a cup run on top? What if we end 12th… 16th?

Just as a side note... I'm guessing OH Leuven will also be part of the deal? Don't think that adds much more to the valuation, but I see no reason why King Power would keep OHL as only club in their portfolio as it is more valuable together with Leicester, although the exchange of players over the seasons has been rather limited (had a quick check, found Elliott Moore, Bartosz Kapustka, George Hirst, Daniel Iversen, Kamal Sowah, Nathan Opoku, Josh Eppiah, Filip Benković, Andy King...)

Emmanuel Addai, 24, Ghana, winger, end of contract at Qarabag in Azerbaijan named on this website as soon to sign for OHL: https://kickgh.com/ghabroad/oh-leuven-set-to-announce-emmanuel-addai-capture#google_vignette

Yeh showed too little at OHL but a) I believe he can do better and will still improve, and b) good strikers are expensive and we have not had luck in the last few seasons. Last one to score 10 or more in single season is Gonzalez (2022-23) But I also believe in Traore, not sure if he will play alongside Yamada though

Ikwuemesi being chased by Derby County... 10 goals in about 70 matches so far, don't think most OHL would be unhappy to see him go for 4 Mio EUR. But then ofc who will replace him and at what price? https://www.instagram.com/p/DbJOK_YsJVA/

Belgian Goalkeeper Jelle Van Neck (22, Marseille B) supposedly on the radar with Mechelen also following

Was definitely second choice behind Carl Hoefkens but after weeks of trying NAC Breda did not let him go so picked Simons instead. good thing about Simons is he wants attacking football. Since the Belgian Mickey Mouse league reverts to 18 teams (despite all clubs knowing it is a dumb idea) half of the league will have nothing to play for from January. OHL very likely to be in the middle (as was the case last six seasons or so) so at least we’ll see some goals… prefer to lose 4-5 than win 1-0 in such cases.

Meanwhile another appeal against the league reform by div2 clubs. Hope they succeed!