Marked for Dion Malone
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Apr 2028
Every point is an argument now for Telstar
Position 17 and 19 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
Zakaria El Kachati wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Zakaria El Kachati found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Volendam went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Match15 Apr 2028
At last: Telstar win one
10 matches without a win, and then this, against Volendam. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces17 Apr 2028
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match15 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Zakaria El Kachati’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Telstar.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Tyrone Owusu 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Cihat Çelik
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2028
Telstar are in real trouble now
Position 18, 16 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match18 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Telstar
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market20 Mar 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match18 Mar 2028
Telstar cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad20 Mar 2028
The medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Jorrit Smeets, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“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.
Match18 Mar 2028
NEC take the points off Telstar
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Mar 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
“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 Telstar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Pressure builds in the Telstar boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match4 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Telstar's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Telstar has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Juan Familia-Castillo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Telstar is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tyrese Noslin 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Layee Kromah and Telstar agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tyrone Owusu 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jeroen Houwen has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Nov 2027
128 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Telstar lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Matz Flipse breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Nov 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 Telstar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Telstar know it.
Match7 Nov 2027
0‑1 to Heerenveen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Nov 2027
135 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Telstar lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Nov 2027
26 days out for Matz Flipse after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Telstar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Zakaria El Kachati did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin 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.
Match30 Oct 2027
1‑2 to Sparta Rotterdam, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daan Reiziger, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Telstar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tyrone Owusu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Quincy Lang left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Telstar may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Richard van der Venne and Telstar agree another 1 years.
Match2 Oct 2027
Utrecht left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Telstar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rico Speksnijder was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Rojendro Oudsten is the month’s best young player
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Telstar will try not to make too much of it.
Market4 Oct 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Jesaja Mustapha has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Telstar.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Quincy Lang left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dion Malone, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Dion Malone: 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.” Telstar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Jorrit Smeets has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Telstar is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match25 Sep 2027
A bad afternoon for Telstar against Zwolle
0‑1 to Zwolle, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Rico Speksnijder 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
“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 dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Quincy Lang left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Aug 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market23 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Juan Familia-Castillo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Telstar is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Aug 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 Telstar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
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.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Jeroen Houwen
“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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Telstar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rico Speksnijder 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 dugout23 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Quincy Lang chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jul 2027
Maikey Houwaart damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Telstar have gone to Feyenoord 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 targets12 Jul 2027
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Rico Speksnijder 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Telstar know it.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Holstein Kiel: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Dion Malone 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Telstar can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Telstar
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad8 Mar 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Guus Offerhaus and Telstar agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Telstar
Zakaria El Kachati 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.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Layee Kromah beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrick Brouwer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Telstar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match27 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑4 by Ajax, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match27 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Telstar
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Telstar are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin 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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Patrick Brouwer
“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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Telstar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rico Speksnijder 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑4 Quincy Lang left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Telstar lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match15 Feb 2027
Telstar sink to position 18
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad15 Feb 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 Telstar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Feb 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Rico Speksnijder 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hasip Korkmazyürek, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Dion Malone dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Telstar
14 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 87 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match9 Jan 2027
The goals have deserted Telstar
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Telstar can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrick Brouwer and Telstar agree another 4 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Telstar are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.55 on the card, and the Telstar support went home talking about one name.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Telstar have made the call to Roda. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout11 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Telstar lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match13 Dec 2026
10 matches without a win for Telstar
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Telstar are no longer polite ones.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Telstar may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Matthias Köbbing arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Matthias Köbbing has, at Telstar, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tyrese Noslin commits to Telstar for another 3 years.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match13 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Quincy Lang left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Telstar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 Nov 2026
8 matches without a win for Telstar
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Telstar are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Emirhan Demircan, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Telstar
Jesaja Mustapha and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Telstar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rico Speksnijder 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.
Match29 Nov 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaynilson Geoffery, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Quincy Lang: “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 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Zakaria El Kachati has, at Telstar, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Zakaria El Kachati 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 Oct 2026
Words at Telstar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rico Speksnijder 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Telstar will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Layee Kromah beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match25 Oct 2026
Honours even between Telstar and Ajax
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Quincy Lang: “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 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Dion Malone 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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sparta Rotterdam in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
Gerald Alders is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Groningen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Telstar
Tyrese Noslin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Rico Speksnijder 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Quincy Lang left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Reno Becker
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ajax in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Jeff Hardeveld has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Telstar that is a harder question to answer.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Gerald Alders
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The dugout
Dion Malone has been promised minutes
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Looking ahead
Looking ahead: Ajax at home
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tyrese Noslin and Telstar agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Telstar are still strangers to each other
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Hasip Korkmazyürek 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Jeroen Houwen wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Telstar have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Nathan Gakpo out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Telstar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Sep 2026
Tyrick Bodak 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 Telstar can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 18 gone
That is the business done at Telstar until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Reno Becker arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Reno Becker has, at Telstar, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Telstar will try again when the window opens; PSV may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Reno Becker commits to Telstar for another 4 years.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Telstar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Sep 2026
Jaynilson Geoffery is 20, and Telstar have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market7 Sep 2026
He is 20, and nobody at Telstar signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.