Javier Olivas

Striker - Leon
28 Sep 2031
Sunday
Process

Marked for Javier Olivas

249 Edition

The Leon Sentinel

5 May 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Julio González out for 164 days

164 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Leon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

67 days out for Luis Villegas after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Agustín Moreira keeps the receipts

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

Market

Fernando Beltrán wants more than Leon are offering

“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.

Squad

Jhohan Romaña signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jhohan Romaña and Leon agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Leon

Fernando Beltrán 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 dugout

When it matters, Jhohan Romaña plays

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Leonardo Sepúlveda

“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.

Market

Diber Cambindo linked with a move away

The name of Diber Cambindo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Leon say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

Back issues
211 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

12 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Zwolle part company with Wesley Malen

The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.

Match

No end in sight to Zwolle's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zwolle has to find a result from somewhere.

Boardroom

A stranger takes charge at Zwolle

The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.

Squad

Givaro Rahajaän breaks a bone — 32 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Javier Olivas agrees terms with Roda

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zwolle people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Boardroom

Interim Coach steps up at Zwolle for now

“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.

Squad

The step up is real for Gael Noorden

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Zwolle

Koen Kostons and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

5 academy graduates step up at Zwolle

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

In brief

210 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Givaro Rahajaän out for 39 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zwolle will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Not going: Nick Dobben stays at Zwolle

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Eibar had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Transfer targets

Zwolle rebuffed over Dennis Man

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vitesse have kept their man, and Zwolle go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Calvin Raatsie is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zwolle is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Gijs Smal stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Gijs Smal and Zwolle agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Koen Kostons 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 Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Real improvement from Owen Van de Beek at Zwolle

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Owen Van de Beek is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Market

Eyes on Javier Olivas again

The phone has started ringing about Javier Olivas again, and this time the name on the line is Roda. Zwolle are listening politely and promising nothing.

The dugout

When it matters, Gijs Smal plays

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.

In brief

207 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

15 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Javier Olivas has said yes to Heracles

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zwolle have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Transfer targets

Feyenoord tell Zwolle: Julian Rijkhoff is not for sale

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nick Dobben

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nick Dobben will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Mbayo 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Zwolle

Sherel Floranus 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.

Market

The Calvin Raatsie conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Willem II will make the call about Calvin Raatsie this week. Zwolle have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

The dugout

Simon Graves 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 Simon Graves is on it.

The dugout

news_h_reunited_with_his_manager

news_b_reunited_with_his_manager

The dugout

No hiding place for Melle Meerdink

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Melle Meerdink, and the manager let it.

In brief

206 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

8 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Zwolle say no — this time

The offer from Farense for Nick Dobben 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Zwolle

Tim Köther and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

The step up is real for Minkyu Chea

At 22 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.

Squad

Dylan Mbayo 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.

Market

Eyes on Javier Olivas again

The phone has started ringing about Javier Olivas again, and this time the name on the line is Heracles. Zwolle are listening politely and promising nothing.

The dugout

When it matters, Gijs Smal plays

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.

Boardroom

7 new boys at the Zwolle academy

Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.

The dugout

news_h_reunited_with_his_manager

news_b_reunited_with_his_manager

The dugout

No hiding place for Saad Haqawi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saad Haqawi, and the manager let it.

In brief

205 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

1 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Igor Dmitriev

Zwolle and AZ have settled on $4.1M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.

Market

Javier Olivas has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zwolle they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Zwolle

Koen Kostons 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 dugout

news_h_frozen_out_of_the_side

news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side

Squad

Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Graves 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.

Squad

Ties van der Maat has improved at 24, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

The dugout

Thomas Buitink 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 dugout

When it matters, Dylan Mbayo plays

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.

Squad

Rocky Herrera slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rocky Herrera is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

In brief

204 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

24 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Transfer targets

$3.0M settles it between the clubs for Julian Rijkhoff

Feyenoord have accepted the money. What Zwolle do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Market

Nick Dobben has said yes to Willem II

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zwolle have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Herbert Paul puts it in writing

“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Naj Lulić signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Naj Lulić commits to Zwolle for another 4 years.

Squad

Anis Aheddouch is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.

Squad

Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Mbayo 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 dugout

Naj Lulić 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

A late step up for Saad Haqawi

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

The dugout

news_h_reunited_with_his_manager

news_b_reunited_with_his_manager

In brief

202 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Terms done: Javier Olivas is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Excelsior waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zwolle is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Minkyu Chea puts it in writing

“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Zwolle turn down Cambuur for Seth Annink

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Tom de Graaff wants more than Zwolle are offering

“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.

Squad

Damian van der Haar signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Damian van der Haar commits to Zwolle for another 4 years.

Squad

Koen Kostons 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 Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Zwolle

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Graves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Frankie Phillips

Zwolle asked and Doncaster Rovers 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Damian van der Haar

“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

201 Edition

The Zwolle Herald

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Javier Olivas puts it in writing

“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Damian van der Haar 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 Zwolle hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

The dugout

news_h_frozen_out_of_the_side

news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side

Squad

Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dylan Mbayo 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 targets

Door shut on Robin Mirisola

Zwolle asked and Racing Genk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Seth Annink attracts admirers

The name of Seth Annink has come up in conversations Zwolle were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Rocky Herrera stays put

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

Squad

Jayden Holtman 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 Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

news_h_reunited_with_his_manager

news_b_reunited_with_his_manager

In brief