Marked for Austyn Jones
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 May 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 The request is on a desk at Utrecht, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 May 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Utrecht they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 May 2031
Words exchanged at Utrecht
Oscar Gloukh 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.
Boardroom26 May 2031
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Austyn Jones 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.
Squad26 May 2031
Words at Utrecht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batista Mendy 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.
Market26 May 2031
Utrecht may not be able to give Kaick what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Kaick wants continental football; whether Utrecht can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The dugout26 May 2031
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market26 May 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.
The dugout26 May 2031
Josh Cullen 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 Utrecht, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom19 May 2031
Continental nights are coming to Utrecht
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
Market19 May 2031
Cédric Nuozzi 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 Utrecht can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout19 May 2031
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Market19 May 2031
Only the photograph left for Austyn Jones
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Austyn Jones will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Utrecht the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 May 2031
A falling-out at Utrecht
Oscar Gloukh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom19 May 2031
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Salaheddine Benyachou 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.
Squad19 May 2031
Words at Utrecht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batista Mendy 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 dugout19 May 2031
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Loan watch19 May 2031
38 starts and an average of 6.90. He went there to play and he is playing, which is the only thing a loan was ever for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 May 2031
Oscar Gloukh 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 Utrecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 May 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Utrecht is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 May 2031
Anass Zaroury falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout12 May 2031
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 Nikolas Nartey is on it.
Squad12 May 2031
“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; Utrecht are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout12 May 2031
Cédric Nuozzi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market12 May 2031
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Utrecht know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market12 May 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.
Market12 May 2031
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Utrecht money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Apr 2031
Austyn Jones 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 Utrecht can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
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Squad21 Apr 2031
A falling-out at Utrecht
Oscar Gloukh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Apr 2031
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anass Zaroury was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Apr 2031
The medical room confirms 42 days on the sidelines for Frenkie De Roon, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matisse Didden, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
Yoann Cathline has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Utrecht will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
Adam Ouaziz is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market21 Apr 2031
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dani de Wit’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Mar 2031
Successful dribbles: 48. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Mar 2031
Austyn Jones 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 Utrecht can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Oscar Gloukh 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 Utrecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Mar 2031
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Utrecht can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Market17 Mar 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Utrecht is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Mar 2031
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batista Mendy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market17 Mar 2031
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utrecht have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match15 Mar 2031
Three points for Utrecht, 1‑0 the final word against Heracles in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Jan 2031
Nowhere to hide for Utrecht
0‑6 against PSV, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout27 Jan 2031
“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.
Market27 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.
The dugout27 Jan 2031
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Squad27 Jan 2031
A falling-out at Utrecht
Oscar Gloukh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom27 Jan 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Scott Jansen has agreed terms with Zwolle for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Match25 Jan 2031
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Utrecht and PSV in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad27 Jan 2031
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Elias Hovdahl Sandrød is living that version at Utrecht, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad27 Jan 2031
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anass Zaroury was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout9 Sep 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Utrecht may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout9 Sep 2030
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Market9 Sep 2030
“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 Utrecht, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad9 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utrecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Sep 2030
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad9 Sep 2030
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oscar Gloukh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Sep 2030
Utrecht come up short against AZ
AZ left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout9 Sep 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Aug 2030
“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 Utrecht, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Aug 2030
Anass Zaroury wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Utrecht hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
Everything agreed with Porto, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at PSV is saying, and nobody at Utrecht is enjoying the guessing.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Anass Zaroury 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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Words at Utrecht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oscar Gloukh 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.
Market5 Aug 2030
Add another name to the list: Epicentr have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matyáš Havelka. The answer from Utrecht has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets5 Aug 2030
Utrecht asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout5 Aug 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Jul 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Utrecht people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market29 Jul 2030
“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.
Market29 Jul 2030
The fee is $1.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. PSV drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Austyn Jones 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. Austyn Jones has, at Utrecht, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad29 Jul 2030
A falling-out at Utrecht
Timothy Castagne and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Jul 2030
A row about effort at Utrecht
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oscar Gloukh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
Dani de Wit is still paying for one afternoon at Utrecht
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Utrecht are still strangers to each other
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Loan watch29 Jul 2030
“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 Utrecht, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Dec 2029
50 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.
Market24 Dec 2029
“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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Tyrell Malacia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Dec 2029
Whatever happens, Groningen do not lose
6 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maas Willemsen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Dec 2029
3 matches without a goal for Groningen
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The terraces24 Dec 2029
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
Sven Mijnans 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 Sven Mijnans is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Nov 2029
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Groningen scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Market19 Nov 2029
Austyn Jones 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.
Market19 Nov 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Bresser will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Groningen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
“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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words exchanged at Groningen
Tyrell Malacia 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 ratings19 Nov 2029
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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
A row about effort at Groningen
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorg Schreuders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Nov 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jorg Schreuders’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Groningen.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vincenzo Colangiuli, and the manager let it.