Nicky Rueck

Defensive Midfielder - NEC
15 Nov 2029
Thursday
Process

Marked for Nicky Rueck

147 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Danilo 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 NEC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Nicky Rueck stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicky Rueck and NEC agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Başar Önal knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Başar Önal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

Back issues
141 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Nicky Rueck keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” NEC may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Danilo 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 NEC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Redouan El Yaakoubi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Redouan El Yaakoubi and NEC agree another 2 years.

In brief

137 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Nicky Rueck

Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Jaygo van Ommeren shuts the door

Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Noé Lebreton signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Noé Lebreton commits to NEC for another 4 years.

Squad

Danilo 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 NEC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Danilo is carrying NEC

7 goals and a season average of 7.49. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Youssef El Kachati runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

134 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Noé Lebreton

Defensive actions: 32. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Tempers go at NEC

Danilo 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.

Squad

Sami Ouaissa is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.39 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Youssef El Kachati

Marked 8.81 — 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.

Player ratings

Danilo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Youssef El Kachati sends NEC past Cambuur

It finished 1‑0, and it was Youssef El Kachati’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to NEC.

Player ratings

Philippe Sandler in the eights

A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No place for Redouan El Yaakoubi on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at NEC pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Squad

Nicky Rueck gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

119 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

6 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Danilo 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 NEC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Koki Ogawa

Marked 8.59 — 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.

Match

NEC get the job done against Vitesse

A 1‑0 win over Vitesse, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Sami Ouaissa in the eights

A performance of 8.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Redouan El Yaakoubi gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Sami Ouaissa is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.30 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

NEC share the spoils with Young Boys

A 1‑1 draw with Young Boys leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Virgil Misidjan

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Danilo keeps on missing

Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

113 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

25 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Whatever happens, NEC do not lose

9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Danilo 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 NEC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Başar Önal in the eights

A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Danilo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

NEC share the spoils with ADO Den Haag

A 1‑1 draw with ADO Den Haag leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nicky Rueck

“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.

Player ratings

Koki Ogawa leaves them behind him

Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Player ratings

The one thing Isak Hansen-Aarøen could not do

Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Market

The Koki Ogawa talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. NEC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

108 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Nicky Rueck says NEC went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Danilo 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 NEC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

NEC get the job done against De Graafschap

A 2‑1 win over De Graafschap, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Sami Ouaissa

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.90, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Başar Önal

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.75, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Isak Hansen-Aarøen runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Danilo in the eights

A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Sun Huizer signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sun Huizer commits to NEC for another 4 years.

Squad

Finn de Bruin gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

105 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at NEC

Danilo 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.

Squad

Mees Eppink gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Nicky Rueck knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicky Rueck trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

99 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at NEC

Danilo 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.

Squad

Yannick Dodo stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Yannick Dodo and NEC agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Deveron Fonville gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

85 Edition

The NEC Chronicle

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Nick Dobben keeps NEC in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Başar Önal

10 goals and a season average of 7.57 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Jordan Bos 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 NEC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

NEC get the job done against Heerenveen

A 3‑1 win over Heerenveen, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

One of those days for Başar Önal

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Sami Ouaissa

Marked 9.05 — 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Isak Hansen-Aarøen

Marked 9.02 — 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Philippe Sandler

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Michael Bresser

“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.

In brief