86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zwolle lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriël Reiziger, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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.” Calvin Berghuis chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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 words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Lucas Rosa 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim de Troije 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Calvin Berghuis could afford to be generous.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Naj Lulić 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.
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zwolle lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zwolle have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matyáš Havelka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Koen Kostons 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kenzo Riedewald has his answer from Zwolle; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Something was said to Damian van der Haar and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zwolle lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Buitink will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zwolle asked and Ajax said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Willem II held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Zwolle answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zwolle lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
$15.1M settles it between the clubs for Paul Wanner
PSV have accepted the money. What Zwolle do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Feyenoord waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zwolle is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 17 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Cambuur moved on, Naj Lulić reports back to Zwolle, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Zwolle asked and Corinthians said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zwolle have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with ADO Den Haag is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AEK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Lucas Rosa 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gonçalo Peixoto is living that version at Zwolle, and it tends to show in the first month.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. De Graafschap have kept their man, and Zwolle go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Excelsior will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Marko Zivkovic has pre-agreed a move to Zwolle, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Thomas Buitink wins it after the whistle should have gone
95 minutes played. Thomas Buitink found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Groningen went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and KV Kortrijk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zwolle is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matyáš Havelka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Mouscron keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Lucas Rosa 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.
Zwolle asked and Stade Rennais said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zwolle they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zwolle have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kenzo Riedewald is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Simon Graves has improved at 30, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Graves 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.
Zwolle asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Jonathan Hendrickx 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.
Lucas Rosa 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thijs Oosting was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zwolle, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zwolle will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Graves 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zwolle, another week without a signature from Nick Viergever.
Nobody at Zwolle 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zwolle is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Younes Namli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thijs Oosting 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Tijs Velthuis has his answer from Zwolle; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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; Zwolle are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zwolle can pretend not to have heard.
Nick Viergever 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Thijs Oosting 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.
Nobody at Zwolle 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Koen Kostons signs something — a contract at Zwolle or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zwolle, another week without a signature from Sven van der Plas.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matyáš Havelka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Younes Namli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Graves 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Calvin Berghuis after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Zwolle pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thijs Oosting will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thijs Oosting was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nick Viergever trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Calvin Berghuis after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thijs Oosting will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with Wolfsberger AC, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Younes Namli 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Simon Graves 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.
Roda held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Zwolle answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zwolle have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zwolle can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zwolle they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lucas Rosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thijs Oosting 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zwolle can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Lucas Rosa 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thijs Oosting 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zwolle can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jesper van Riel will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Younes Namli 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 Dec 2028
Thijs Oosting 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zwolle have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Graves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Thomas Buitink had Zwolle level again within 2 minutes, and Heerenveen never got to play with a lead at all.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against PSV in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thijs Oosting was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.19 — 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zwolle will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matyáš Havelka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Zwolle offered $2.2M; Ajax 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thijs Oosting was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Heerenveen waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zwolle is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zwolle will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zwolle can pretend not to have heard.
Zwolle have gone to Ajax 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Björn Mellema is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
$360.0K on the table at De Graafschap. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Lucas Rosa 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jeyano Fortes Rocha has, at Zwolle, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Jeyano Fortes Rocha is 20, and Zwolle 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zwolle they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zwolle hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Buitink was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zwolle people have started saying his name in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Lucas Rosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Graves 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zwolle has been clear about where Nick Viergever stands, which is more than many ever get.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Heerenveen will make the call about Matyáš Havelka this week. Zwolle have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aymean El Hani is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad29 May 2028
Thijs Oosting 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thomas Buitink trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Matyáš Havelka has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Lucas Rosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Thijs Oosting 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.
Nobody at Zwolle 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zwolle has been clear about where Danilo van Roekel stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zwolle, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zwolle will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Lucas Rosa 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 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Buitink, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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.” Calvin Berghuis, on a 4‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
Lucas Rosa 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Simon Graves 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.
“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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Zwolle are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Excelsior? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sam de Laat is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tom de Graaff signs something — a contract at Zwolle or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Zwolle 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.
Younes Namli 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 Simon Graves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Zwolle pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Roda have accepted the money. What Zwolle do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zwolle have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Lucas Rosa 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 phone has started ringing about Thomas Buitink again, and this time the name on the line is Feyenoord. Zwolle are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Graves 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.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zwolle lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
9 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.
“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 Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zwolle, another week without a signature from Menno Koch.
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zwolle this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Thijs Oosting scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to AZ, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Zwolle training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Graves 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Calvin Berghuis to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Elias Sørensen
The dugoutLucas Rosa asks for a word with the manager