The words a physio says slowly. 64 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 phone has started ringing about Joey Jacobs again, and this time the name on the line is Sparta Rotterdam. Almere City are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Almere City 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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 much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Almere City told Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almere City can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
$720.0K on the table at Fortuna Sittard. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jamie Jacobs commits to Almere City for another 3 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Florian Flick 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.
Almere City asked and AZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Nordin Jackers is in the works
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Almere City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs 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 Almere City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Almere City will have this month.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
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.
Squad22 May 2028
Jamie Jacobs 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 Joey Jacobs trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Almere City, another week without a signature from Bas Huisman.
Nobody at Almere City 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.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Joey Jacobs’s negotiating for him
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Almere City scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joshua Ajala did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Almere City has been clear about where Ferdy Druijf stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Almere City had all but put away. Helmond Sport will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Almere City, and 0 appearances in 40 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Almere City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almere City can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City 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 Almere City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 23 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.
A 2‑0 win over Jong PSV, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
“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; Almere City are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Almere City, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almere City can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Jamie Jacobs 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Almere City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp signs something — a contract at Almere City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Roda next, and one man in the Almere City dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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 Emmanuel Poku is on it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Almere City will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Milan de Haan scored in the 87th minute, VVV-Venlo had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Almere City took the lot.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Almere City can pretend not to have heard.
He is 21 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.
A 1‑0 win over VVV-Venlo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Joey Jacobs has agreed terms with RKC Waalwijk for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp and Almere City agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Willem II had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Almere City, and 0 appearances in 35 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Almere City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Almere City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Jamie Jacobs 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Jong AZ scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Almere City, another week without a signature from Milan de Haan.
Something was said to Esapa Osong and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan de Haan 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 Virgil Berghuis left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Almere City has been clear about where Teun Bijleveld stands, which is more than many ever get.
Something was said to Emmanuel van de Blaak and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Jamie Jacobs is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ferdy Druijf 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
“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 Almere City, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Almere City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Almere City 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.
Ferdy Druijf 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympique Lyonnais have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Midtjylland have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almere City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ajax, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Vitesse left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Three points for Almere City, 1‑0 the final word against ADO Den Haag in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Byron Burgering 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.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Jamie Jacobs was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. 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 watch every Almere City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ajax runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Ajax have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Virgil Berghuis kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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 Almere City, and it is not being withdrawn.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Almere City will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Ferdy Druijf 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. Southampton have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Jamie Jacobs 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.
Half the programme played, position 10, 25 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Olympique Lyonnais have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
A 2‑0 win over De Graafschap, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Almere City, another week without a signature from Tristan Kuijsten.
Something was said to Ferdy Druijf and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Joshua Ajala
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.
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Den Bosch; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
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.
0‑1 to Den Bosch, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Almere City, and 0 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutMilan de Haan asks for a word with the manager
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marked 8.37 — 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Almere City told Lewin Blum something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Almere City, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
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 Teun Bijleveld is on it.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.04. 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. Willem II had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
A place in the month's best eleven for Misha Engel
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Misha Engel has come out of that comparison in the side, and Almere City have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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 dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Virgil Berghuis was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Almere City dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Joshua Ajala
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Olivier de Nijs obliged against NAC Breda. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Almere City.
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
A brace, and Esapa Osong takes the afternoon — 8.75
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Esapa Osong provided it, and the 8.75 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
At 23 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Ferdy Druijf and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
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.
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.
“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 dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Virgil Berghuis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Almere City dressing room was either.
Junior Kadile 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Almere City can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Almere City, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Joeri Heerkens and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
“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.
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 Jong Utrecht? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emmanuel van de Blaak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Emmen next, and one man in the Almere City dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
19 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Almere City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Almere City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at PAOK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Esapa Osong 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.
A 1‑0 win over MVV Maastricht, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
In brief
Player ratingsMilan de Haan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Almere City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp scored, was marked 7.95, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Jamie Jacobs was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. 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.
Marked 8.27 — 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.
“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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 10 gone
That is the business done at Almere City 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ajax keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Tim Ottilinger is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
The dugoutMilan de Haan knocks on the manager’s door
Looking aheadAlmere City take on the side everybody is chasing
18 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
TOP Oss will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Almere City were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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 Almere City, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.56 for the rest of it.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and TOP Oss were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PAOK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Almere City can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
$69.0K on the table at Fortuna Sittard. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Ahly have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
0‑1 to Vitesse, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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 watch every Almere City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ajax runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Junior Kadile, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joey Jacobs trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Almere City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: CS Tunari have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mick Venetis. The answer from Almere City has not changed — yet.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Job Kalisvaart is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Almere City, another week without a signature from Joey Jacobs.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Almere City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Almere City asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almere City have made the call to Feyenoord. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Almere City have made the call to Zwolle. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Almere City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Almere City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ferdy Druijf 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. Ajax have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
Almere City have made the call to Nottingham Forest. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
5 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from De Graafschap for Sebastiaan Hagedoorn was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
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
Jamie Jacobs 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Almere City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Add another name to the list: De Graafschap have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sebastiaan Hagedoorn. The answer from Almere City has not changed — yet.
Almere City 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Almere City, another week without a signature from Joey Jacobs.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City 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 Almere City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AZ have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
“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; Almere City are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emmanuel van de Blaak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PSV keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Ferdy Druijf 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. NEC have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
Almere City have made the call to Eintracht Frankfurt. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Almere City have made the call to Cercle Brugge. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“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 Almere City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
At 21 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad31 May 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Almere City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Emmanuel Poku is on it.
“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 Almere City will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Almere City, another week without a signature from Bas Huisman.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for Almere City
Ferdy Druijf and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.07, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“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.
16 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jordy Bawuah did not need any: 8.25, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.16, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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.
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then FC Eindhoven scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 5 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Virgil Berghuis was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Almere City dressing room was either.
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.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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 next, and one man in the Almere City dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
He is 22 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.
A 1‑0 win over VVV-Venlo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout22 Mar 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.” Virgil Berghuis, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
“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 ratings1 Mar 2027
Ferdy Druijf was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.51. 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
At 23 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emmanuel van de Blaak 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 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Junior Kadile 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.
Almere City asked and Heerenveen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jamie Jacobs 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.
“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 dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Virgil Berghuis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Almere City dressing room was either.
3‑0, and Ferdy Druijf took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Almere City tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Jordy Bawuah, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.27
A mark of 8.27 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.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Almere City asked and Den Bosch said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 21 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jamie Jacobs 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 offer from Trento for Sebastiaan Hagedoorn was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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 deal with Paris FC 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.
Junior Kadile 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 Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Almere City scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Jamie Jacobs 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.
Three points for Almere City, 1‑0 the final word against FC Eindhoven in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Joey Jacobs 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Ferdy Druijf was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. 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.
27 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jamie Jacobs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A brace, and Ferdy Druijf takes the afternoon — 9.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ferdy Druijf provided it, and the 9.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sebastiaan Hagedoorn. 2‑0 against Jong PSV, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
49 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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sebastiaan Hagedoorn did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Junior Kadile 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.
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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Milan de Haan commits to Almere City for another 4 years.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Jamie Jacobs 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.
72 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.
Jong AZ will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Almere City were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jordy Bawuah did not need any: 8.27, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Almere City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 goals in one match, Jordy Bawuah on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Almere City and Jong AZ.
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kai Jansen is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Joey Jacobs 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.
Marked 7.26 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Almere City had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Virgil Berghuis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Almere City dressing room was either.
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.
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.
Almere City asked and Eintracht Frankfurt 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 dugout21 Sep 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 2‑3 Virgil Berghuis left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordy Bawuah 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Almere City have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.