Marked for Valentin Vidal
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 2032
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Emmen had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market6 Sep 2032
Pedro Lima hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Groningen can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Sep 2032
Add another name to the list: VVV-Venlo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Costinha. The answer from Groningen has not changed — yet.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Deadline passes with 24 signed and 19 gone
That is the business done at Groningen 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.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2032
The clock did what Twente would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2032
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PSV keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad6 Sep 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Groningen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2032
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Costinha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2032
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Aug 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Groningen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market23 Aug 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Groningen can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Twente have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Words exchanged at Groningen
Elías Santini 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.
Market23 Aug 2032
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Groningen can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Jakob Breum reaches 200 appearances
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad23 Aug 2032
“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; Groningen are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings23 Aug 2032
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Aug 2032
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giannino Vianello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2032
Kamil Jóźwiak damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Market19 Jul 2032
“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 Groningen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
The clubs have shaken hands with Sparta Rotterdam; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market19 Jul 2032
Groningen say no — this time
The offer from Sparta Rotterdam for Sebastiaan Hagedoorn 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
The paperwork begins on Teddie Lamb
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Groningen have done the hard part with Cambuur, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad19 Jul 2032
Valentin Vidal 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utrecht have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jul 2032
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Costinha 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
A loan move for Wouter Burger is in the works
Groningen have made the call to Kaiserslautern. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2032
62 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Groningen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Jul 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Groningen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market12 Jul 2032
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market12 Jul 2032
“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 Groningen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2032
The deal with Utrecht 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.
Squad12 Jul 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Groningen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2032
Sparta Rotterdam wanted more than $250.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2032
Groningen asked and PSV said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jul 2032
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Kwame Tabiri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 2032
“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 Groningen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2032
The deal with Roda 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.
Market5 Jul 2032
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Groningen heard it as anything else.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2032
The offer went to Sparta Rotterdam 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.
Squad5 Jul 2032
Valentin Vidal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2032
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Costinha 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2032
Groningen asked and Utrecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jul 2032
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Groningen will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad5 Jul 2032
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Abdoulaye Kanté is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2032
Andreas Šćulac damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
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.
Market28 Jun 2032
“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 Groningen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Jun 2032
The chase for Noë Misumi ended with $1.4M changing hands and Willem II out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
The deal with PSV 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Go Ahead Eagles have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Words exchanged at Groningen
Valentin Vidal 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.
Squad28 Jun 2032
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Costinha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market28 Jun 2032
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Market28 Jun 2032
Go Ahead Eagles pay $230.0K, 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andreas Šćulac
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Groningen lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market21 Jun 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Groningen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market21 Jun 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
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.
Market21 Jun 2032
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Valentin Vidal 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 Jun 2032
“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 Groningen know it.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrik Hellebrand 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
PSV 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2032
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Groningen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market14 Jun 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Groningen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market14 Jun 2032
Groningen say no — this time
The offer from Emmen for Fofin Turay 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.
Market14 Jun 2032
Bart Kemmeren arrives at Groningen in a $450.0K statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Groningen have paid $450.0K for Bart Kemmeren, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Squad14 Jun 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Valentin Vidal and Groningen agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Bart Kemmeren arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Bart Kemmeren has, at Groningen, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
Groningen asked and Utrecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Groningen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
RKC Waalwijk wanted more than $290.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2032
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Groningen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Groningen may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2032
Everything agreed with Go Ahead Eagles, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2032
$290.0K settles it between the clubs for Briek Van Hoorick
Zwolle have accepted the money. What Groningen do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market7 Jun 2032
Only the photograph left for Frank Stople
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Frank Stople will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Groningen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom7 Jun 2032
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Lévi Ntumba 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.
Squad7 Jun 2032
Words exchanged at Groningen
Youssoupha Sanyang 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2032
Groningen asked and RKC Waalwijk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market7 Jun 2032
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Groningen have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andreas Šćulac
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Groningen lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match17 Apr 2032
5‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad19 Apr 2032
31 days out for Evan Rottier after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Groningen will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad19 Apr 2032
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market19 Apr 2032
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market19 Apr 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Groningen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match17 Apr 2032
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Groningen and PSV in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Market19 Apr 2032
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Groningen can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad19 Apr 2032
David Edvardsson 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2032
A fracture rules Evan Rottier out for 48 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Groningen will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Apr 2032
Words exchanged at Groningen
Agon Sadiku 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 Apr 2032
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yoann Cathline was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market5 Apr 2032
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Groningen heard it as anything else.
Match3 Apr 2032
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Apr 2032
28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout5 Apr 2032
A promise honoured at Groningen
Something was said to Costinha and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout5 Apr 2032
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gennady Ivanov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout5 Apr 2032
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Feb 2032
A fracture rules Evan Rottier out for 101 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Groningen will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings16 Feb 2032
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.50, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market16 Feb 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Groningen can pretend not to have heard.
Market16 Feb 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Groningen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Costinha 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.
Market16 Feb 2032
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Match14 Feb 2032
It finished 3‑1, and it was Youssoupha Sanyang’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Groningen.
Boardroom16 Feb 2032
Feyenoord will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Kwame Tabiri has pre-agreed a move to Groningen, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Transfer targets16 Feb 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Twente have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Dec 2031
Etienne Vaessen damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Match14 Dec 2031
No end in sight to Groningen's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Groningen has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Dec 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Groningen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market15 Dec 2031
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Match14 Dec 2031
Eduard Spertsyan scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to PSV, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
The manager makes an example of Gijs Smal
“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 dugout15 Dec 2031
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
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 dugout15 Dec 2031
Kamil Jóźwiak gets picked when it counts
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 Kamil Jóźwiak is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Oct 2031
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Groningen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market20 Oct 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market20 Oct 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Groningen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match18 Oct 2031
Groningen make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Groningen have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Words exchanged at Groningen
Lévi Ntumba 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.
Player ratings20 Oct 2031
A defender's afternoon for Costinha
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad20 Oct 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Frank Stople and Groningen agree another 4 years.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrik Hellebrand 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Oct 2031
Etienne Vaessen damages knee ligaments — 93 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Market13 Oct 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Groningen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Eduard Spertsyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market13 Oct 2031
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Valentin Vidal wants continental football; whether Groningen can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad13 Oct 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Frank Stople and Groningen agree another 4 years.
The dugout13 Oct 2031
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Groningen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market13 Oct 2031
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Robert Henderson has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Groningen.
Looking ahead13 Oct 2031
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Go Ahead Eagles in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market13 Oct 2031
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Sep 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market8 Sep 2031
Only the photograph left for Luuk Verheij
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luuk Verheij will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Groningen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets8 Sep 2031
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Go Ahead Eagles is saying, and nobody at Groningen is enjoying the guessing.
Market8 Sep 2031
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Sebastiaan Hagedoorn reports back to Groningen with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Evan Rottier arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Evan Rottier has, at Groningen, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets8 Sep 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Valentin Vidal 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.
Market8 Sep 2031
No place for Luuk Verheij in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luuk Verheij has his answer from Groningen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luuk Verheij, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Aug 2031
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Groningen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Groningen may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market25 Aug 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2031
The clubs have shaken hands with Go Ahead Eagles; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market25 Aug 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Groningen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2031
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.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2031
The deal with Feyenoord 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.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2031
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Feyenoord is saying, and nobody at Groningen is enjoying the guessing.
Market25 Aug 2031
PSV pay $1.2M, 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Aug 2031
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Groningen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad18 Aug 2031
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Groningen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market18 Aug 2031
Costinha puts it in writing
“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 Groningen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Aug 2031
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market18 Aug 2031
Only the photograph left for Davi Schuindt
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davi Schuindt will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Groningen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
Everything agreed with AZ, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Eduard Spertsyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PSV have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match16 Aug 2031
Three points for Groningen, 2‑0 the final word against Twente in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jul 2031
68 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Groningen lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market14 Jul 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Groningen can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Jul 2031
Luuk Verheij has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Groningen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words exchanged at Groningen
Etienne Vaessen 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.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PSV have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Spertsyan 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.
Market14 Jul 2031
The name of Sebastiaan Hagedoorn has come up in conversations Groningen were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market14 Jul 2031
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad14 Jul 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrick Malen and Groningen agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Jun 2031
Kamil Jóźwiak damages knee ligaments — 94 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
Market23 Jun 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market23 Jun 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thijmen Blokzijl will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Groningen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
The offer went to PSV 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.
Market23 Jun 2031
Boitumelo Radiopane has left for Twente in a $4.5M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
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.
Boardroom23 Jun 2031
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.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Costinha in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Groningen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market23 Jun 2031
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Groningen can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 May 2031
Luka Robben hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Groningen can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 May 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Groningen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 May 2031
Costinha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 May 2031
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thijmen Blokzijl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 May 2031
“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.
Market5 May 2031
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Groningen, another week without a signature from Thijmen Blokzijl.
The dugout5 May 2031
A promise honoured at Groningen
Something was said to Youssoupha Sanyang and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad5 May 2031
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market5 May 2031
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Groningen money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Apr 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Groningen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market7 Apr 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Etienne Vaessen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Apr 2031
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Match5 Apr 2031
It finished 1‑0, and it was Boitumelo Radiopane’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Groningen.
Squad7 Apr 2031
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Lima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Apr 2031
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.57 on the card, and the Groningen support went home talking about one name.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Groningen
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Junior Kadile knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Mar 2031
Gijs Smal puts it in writing
“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 Groningen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Mar 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Groningen is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Costinha in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Groningen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Mar 2031
Pedro Lima wants European nights
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thijmen Blokzijl 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 dugout31 Mar 2031
“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 Mar 2031
Valentin Vidal knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Groningen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market31 Mar 2031
4 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Groningen money.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
The manager makes Jamal Gonzaga 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 Feb 2031
Almere City will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Groningen were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market10 Feb 2031
“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 Groningen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Feb 2031
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Groningen have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Feb 2031
The deal that would have taken Thijmen Blokzijl to AZ has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Groningen with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Player ratings10 Feb 2031
Two goals and a mark of 8.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
The window shuts on the Matěj Šín deal
Groningen ran out of time with Ajax. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The dugout10 Feb 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Groningen may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets10 Feb 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Go Ahead Eagles have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Costinha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Jan 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Groningen can pretend not to have heard.
Market27 Jan 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Groningen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market27 Jan 2031
Groningen say no — this time
The offer from Sparta Rotterdam for Thijmen Romers 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.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
No deal for Ionuţ Radu at that price
Groningen offered $1.1M; Feyenoord 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.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
The deal with Ajax 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.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Costinha 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.
Market27 Jan 2031
Groningen may not be able to give Pedro Lima what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pedro Lima wants continental football; whether Groningen can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Player ratings27 Jan 2031
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.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ADO Den Haag have kept their man, and Groningen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Jan 2031
Utrecht come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Groningen did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market20 Jan 2031
Only the photograph left for Junior Kadile
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Junior Kadile will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Groningen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets20 Jan 2031
The clubs have shaken hands with Cambuur; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Transfer targets20 Jan 2031
Groningen asked and PSV said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market20 Jan 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets20 Jan 2031
$1.1M on the table at Feyenoord. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom20 Jan 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Junior Kadile has agreed terms with Willem II for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Words exchanged at Groningen
Costinha 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.
Transfer targets20 Jan 2031
$430.0K was the most the club would pay and ADO Den Haag 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.