Marked for Geronimo Londar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Feb 2028
No end in sight to Stripfing's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Stripfing has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Stripfing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Kalajdzic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Stripfing
Connor Roberts 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 dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nico Maier, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
7.50, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Stripfing had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad21 Feb 2028
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Stripfing are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Philipp Lindner chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Geronimo Londar is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Vitesse
Remco Balk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“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 Vitesse know it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Noa Dundas, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Nobody could get near Remco Balk
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Den Bosch will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Vitesse have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market31 Aug 2026
Vitesse say no — this time
The offer from Almere City for Solomon Bonnah 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Pontus Dahbo at 20 — 7.90
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Pontus Dahbo did not need any: 7.90, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Vitesse sell a favourite for $1.7M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Naoufal Bannis was one of the reasons people came, and $1.7M does not replace that by itself.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Vitesse, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Naoufal Bannis has left for Twente in a $1.7M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Mitchel Bakker 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Vitesse
Remco Balk 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.