2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.23, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Willem II 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. VVV-Venlo have kept their man, and Willem II go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Devin Haen has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julian Baas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chase for Gonçalo Borges ended with $3.7M changing hands and Feyenoord out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Julian Baas has, at Willem II, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
6 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Willem II have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Willem II had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Palermo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
12 combined actions and 6.89. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
7 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Dordrecht? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Position 3, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Chido Obi, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.04
A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 20 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.
Manuel Lazzari 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Meldin Drešković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsNick Doodeman was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Chido Obi did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Karim Konaté. 2‑1 against TOP Oss, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Willem II training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Ciranni 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.
7.85, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Willem II had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Rick Wijnaldum, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Manuel Lazzari 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 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Willem II told Finn Stam something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uriël Van Aalst was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Willem II is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Willem II know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Willem II have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Thomas Verheydt is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Rick Wijnaldum after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Karim Konaté
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout13 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 1‑2 Rick Wijnaldum left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Willem II training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uriël Van Aalst 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 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.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Willem II have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Willem II training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Ciranni 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.
Damy Bernardina 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Willem II have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Willem II training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kasper Boogaard 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.
“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.
Nobody at Willem II will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Willem II know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Willem II will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Willem II, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al Ahly keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Andrea Natali 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and Willem II go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Willem II will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Calvin Twigt 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 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.
“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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Rick Wijnaldum was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Willem II dressing room was either.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
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 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.
Jaden Slory 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.
“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; Willem II are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Eser Gürbüz
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against TOP Oss in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Calvin Twigt 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 first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Almere City; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Devin Haen, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Willem II training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armin Ćulum 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Finn Stam has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kasper Boogaard is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Willem II this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Willem II are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Eser Gürbüz
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Willem II can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 12 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Copenhagen have kept their man, and Willem II go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Lasse Abildgaard 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
10 new faces, and Willem II are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Maxwell Rodrigues may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
VVV-Venlo will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Willem II were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bodo/Glimt keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Willem II offered $220.0K; Feyenoord said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nick Doodeman was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Fortuna Sittard had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.88 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $120.0K — a club that wants Matyáš Havelka enough to be asked twice.
Willem II offered $290.0K; AZ said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Kasper Boogaard has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.