Marked for Jesper Mosselaar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Roda
Dario Van Den Buijs 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Marco Tol 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Stije Resink 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 9.43 — 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 3‑1 win over Vitesse, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Stije Resink
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Groningen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market28 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Groningen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.