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.
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.
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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Groningen would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Excelsior 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.
“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.
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.
Squad1 Nov 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Agustín Guerrero wants continental football; whether Groningen can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Youssoupha Sanyang provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 7.07, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ole Enersen has agreed terms with Vitesse for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
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.
Marked 8.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Groningen can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
In brief
Player ratingsPedro Lima was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
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.
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.
“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.
NEC 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Groningen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Elías Santini has his answer from Groningen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Groningen told Jakob Breum something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannino Vianello 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 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 Groningen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Groningen, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Groningen asked and Anderlecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jakob Breum. 2‑0 against Dordrecht, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad13 Sep 2032
Words at Groningen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giannino Vianello 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 dugout13 Sep 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Gennady Ivanov kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutValentin Vidal asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutKamil Jóźwiak has become a man the manager trusts
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe game went through Agon Sadiku — 7.66
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
$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.
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.
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.
$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.