Marked for Roméo Garnier
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout24 May 2027
Bright van Dijk: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Trelleborg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad24 May 2027
Vincent Poppler 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Olaus Skarsem 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.
Squad24 May 2027
50 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Nicolai Clausen
“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 ratings24 May 2027
Marked 7.52 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Trelleborg had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout24 May 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout24 May 2027
A promise honoured at Trelleborg
Something was said to Roméo Garnier and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces19 Apr 2027
The mood at Trelleborg has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Johan Hammar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Trelleborg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christos Gravius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Ammar Asani
“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 dugout19 Apr 2027
Half-satisfied: Joel Quaison on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Trelleborg will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The plan did not have a place for Amadeus Sögaard
Nobody at Trelleborg is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market29 Mar 2027
Ties Wieggers has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around De Graafschap they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Mar 2027
He is 19, he is averaging 7.18, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Geronimo Venloo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at De Graafschap this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Reuven Niemeijer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Mark Pabai 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at De Graafschap, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 Mar 2027
The clock does Ties Wieggers’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee De Graafschap could ask drops and the wages Ties Wieggers can ask rise.
Market29 Mar 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ties Wieggers may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Trelleborg
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Trelleborg is running low.
Market29 Mar 2027
Ammar Asani 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 Trelleborg can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets29 Mar 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Malmo FF is saying, and nobody at Trelleborg is enjoying the guessing.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Arvid Holgén is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market29 Mar 2027
Brommapojkarna pay $210.0K, 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Trelleborg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christos Gravius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Trelleborg can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Transfer targets29 Mar 2027
Trelleborg asked and Malmo FF said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Daniel Hermansson 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
Triumph
Match20 Mar 2027
8‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad22 Mar 2027
The match ball belongs to Geronimo Venloo, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Geronimo Venloo, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 10.00
A mark of 10.00 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
A brace, and Fedde de Jong takes the afternoon — 8.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fedde de Jong provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market22 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at De Graafschap is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match20 Mar 2027
Nobody wants to play De Graafschap right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ibrahim El Kadiri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
He is 21, he is averaging 7.04, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Match20 Mar 2027
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about De Graafschap and Jong PSV in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces22 Mar 2027
The mood at Trelleborg has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match22 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Trelleborg
Position 15 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market22 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Nils Arvidsson
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nils Arvidsson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trelleborg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets22 Mar 2027
Everything agreed with De Graafschap, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Viggo Karlsson is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Trelleborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Olaus Skarsem 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 targets22 Mar 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AIK have kept their man, and Trelleborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trelleborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Johan Gudmundsson commits to Trelleborg for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Feb 2027
“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 De Graafschap, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 7.81 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ibrahim El Kadiri 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at De Graafschap training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Reuven Niemeijer 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 targets15 Feb 2027
De Graafschap asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match13 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Geronimo Venloo. 1‑0 against Cambuur, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Roméo Garnier
“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 Feb 2027
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.” Daley Dumfries kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Fedde de Jong 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 Fedde de Jong trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.94, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match26 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Ajax right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Ajax
Viktor Tsygankov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
At 17 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.
Market28 Dec 2026
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Ajax can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Match26 Dec 2026
Ajax find a way past AZ
AZ made Ajax work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
The goals keep arriving from Emre Ünüvar’s exile
12 goals in 17 games at Sparta Rotterdam — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ajax updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Match28 Dec 2026
Ajax at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 2, 39 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Ajax training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Toluwalase Arokodare 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
Match26 Nov 2026
A European night to remember for Ajax
0‑0 against KAA Gent, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Match29 Nov 2026
The run is over for Ajax
16 matches without defeat, and then Fortuna Sittard. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Roméo Garnier: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ajax have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Ajax
Théo Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marc-André ter Stegen, and the manager let it.
Match29 Nov 2026
Fortuna Sittard left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market30 Nov 2026
Ajax may not be able to give Lucas Rosa what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Rosa wants continental football; whether Ajax can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Doors closed at Ajax
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Ajax told Théo Hernández something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.