Joel Babel

Attacking Midfielder (L) - Almere City U18
11 May 2029
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Marked for Joel Babel

142 Edition

The Almere City Chronicle

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad16 Apr 2029

The knee: Joel Babel out for 19 days

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

Squad16 Apr 2029

Tempers go at Almere City

Evert Linthorst 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.

Squad16 Apr 2029

Nicolás Rossi 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 dugout16 Apr 2029

Jordy de Beer frozen out at Almere City

This is not rotation. Jordy de Beer has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Almere City is pretending otherwise.

Match14 Apr 2029

Jamie Jacobs sends Almere City past MVV Maastricht

It finished 1‑0, and it was Jamie Jacobs’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Almere City.

Squad16 Apr 2029

Nacim Dendani wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Almere City can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

Player ratings16 Apr 2029

Nobody on the pitch touched Jamie Jacobs

7.75, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Almere City had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout16 Apr 2029

Marco Gakpo: “That is the standard”

“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 dugout16 Apr 2029

The manager makes an example of Amoah Foah-Sam

“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

Back issues
141 Edition

The Almere City Chronicle

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad9 Apr 2029

The knee: Joel Babel out for 28 days

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

Squad9 Apr 2029

Evert Linthorst signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Evert Linthorst and Almere City agree another 4 years.

Squad9 Apr 2029

A row about effort at Almere City

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

Squad9 Apr 2029

A falling-out at Almere City

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

Player ratings9 Apr 2029

Nobody could get near Evert Linthorst

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout9 Apr 2029

Joyce Nsingi frozen out at Almere City

This is not rotation. Joyce Nsingi has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Almere City is pretending otherwise.

The dugout9 Apr 2029

The manager makes an example of Tristan Kuijsten

“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.

Match7 Apr 2029

Almere City come up short against RKC Waalwijk

RKC Waalwijk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market9 Apr 2029

Almere City and Tristan Kuijsten are talking past each other

“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.

In brief

140 Edition

The Almere City Chronicle

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad2 Apr 2029

A knee injury of the worst kind for Joel Babel

36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Almere City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market2 Apr 2029

Thomas Cox has one foot out of the door

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

Squad2 Apr 2029

Evert Linthorst signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Evert Linthorst and Almere City agree another 4 years.

Squad2 Apr 2029

Words at Almere City training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Bravo 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.

Squad2 Apr 2029

Jamie Jacobs 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 Almere City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market2 Apr 2029

Almere City and Emmanuel van de Blaak are talking past each other

“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 dugout2 Apr 2029

Enzo Cornelisse 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.

The dugout2 Apr 2029

A promise honoured for Amoah Foah-Sam

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Almere City told Amoah Foah-Sam something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Market2 Apr 2029

The Tristan Kuijsten talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almere City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

139 Edition

The Almere City Chronicle

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad26 Mar 2029

The knee: Joel Babel out for 43 days

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

Squad26 Mar 2029

Tempers go at Almere City

Junior Kadile 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.

Squad26 Mar 2029

A row about effort at Almere City

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

Squad26 Mar 2029

Jonah te Fruchte stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Jonah te Fruchte and Almere City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings26 Mar 2029

Junior Kadile was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 14. 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.

The dugout26 Mar 2029

Marco Gakpo: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

The dugout26 Mar 2029

The manager makes an example of Thuto Mojanaga

“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.

Match24 Mar 2029

Almere City and TOP Oss cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. TOP Oss came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Market26 Mar 2029

The Emmanuel van de Blaak story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emmanuel van de Blaak signs something — a contract at Almere City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief