The Groningen Courier
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Groningen
Etienne Vaessen 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Che Adams 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
Malcolm Jeng has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Groningen will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Rubén Del Campo gets it from the manager
“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 dugout27 Mar 2028
Etienne Vaessen asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Nils Eggens faces his old club
De Graafschap next, and one man in the Groningen dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Loan watch27 Mar 2028
Wouter Prins has made Willem II’s shirt his own
29 starts now, an average of 6.84, and the team sheet at Willem II has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager makes Nikolas Brandis a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Groningen. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Matěj Kovář has settled at Groningen
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
In brief
- Squad Tobias Sommer starts on the language
- Boardroom Groningen keep producing them
- Looking ahead Groningen travel to De Graafschap