The NEC Chronicle
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Supporters organise against the NEC board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
An offer of $7.9M for Maks Ebong
NEC have gone to Botev Plovdiv with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Jonathan Bamba turns down NEC
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: DC United keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at NEC
Luka Kulenović 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Graduation day at NEC
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
NEC rebuffed over Isaac Babadi
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PSV have kept their man, and NEC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match14 Aug 2027
Luka Kulenović’s goal not enough for NEC
Luka Kulenović scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Utrecht, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
No hiding place for Gonzalo Crettaz
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonzalo Crettaz, and the manager let it.
Market16 Aug 2027
NEC promote Patrick Dumfries from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Patrick Dumfries has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
In brief
- Market One of our own: Ryan Van Dijk joins the NEC first team
- Market NEC promote Jordy Wijnaldum from within
- Market Cody Hateboer steps up from the NEC academy