Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around VVV-Venlo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Thomas Reinders has agreed terms with Fortuna Sittard for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Add another name to the list: Zwolle have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Michael Davis. The answer from VVV-Venlo has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorg Schreuders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utrecht have kept their man, and VVV-Venlo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VVV-Venlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. VVV-Venlo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorg Schreuders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dani Mathieu 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 shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Hobie Verhulst: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
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 VVV-Venlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about VVV-Venlo and De Graafschap in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
“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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at VVV-Venlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philip Heise 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: 28. 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Cody Dijks was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the VVV-Venlo dressing room was either.
Nobody at VVV-Venlo 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what VVV-Venlo can pretend not to have heard.
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 watch every VVV-Venlo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Heracles runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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 Nassim Aït Mouhou is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Den Bosch in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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 VVV-Venlo, 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 VVV-Venlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
De Graafschap pay $850.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
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 VVV-Venlo, and 0 appearances in 9 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 VVV-Venlo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“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 VVV-Venlo will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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.
VVV-Venlo asked and Latina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Björn van Zijl 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 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.
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.
Careers are short and most of them do not end in a deal like this one. Noa Dundas has just secured his, and nobody at VVV-Venlo begrudges him it — out loud.
VVV-Venlo have gone to Heerenveen 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.
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.
VVV-Venlo asked and FC Annecy said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 VVV-Venlo, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kyano Kwint trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Gijs Smal arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
Nobody at VVV-Venlo 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what VVV-Venlo can pretend not to have heard.
VVV-Venlo 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.
The offer went to Feyenoord this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Hobie Verhulst 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at VVV-Venlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorg Schreuders 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.
Vitesse paid $120.0K and VVV-Venlo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Everybody at VVV-Venlo saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Hobie Verhulst 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.
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at VVV-Venlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Dailoski 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 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at VVV-Venlo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Sam de Laat has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means VVV-Venlo have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Diego van Oorschot 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.
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 Dani Mathieu is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sam Kersten trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at VVV-Venlo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 VVV-Venlo will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
A mark of 7.86 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VVV-Venlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for VVV-Venlo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lasse Wehmeyer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. VVV-Venlo told Noé Lebreton something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 Dani Mathieu is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Vitesse in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Daniël Deen has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorg Schreuders was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VVV-Venlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Thomas Janssen, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.15
A mark of 8.15 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VVV-Venlo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Naïm Matoug. 3‑2 against Emmen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at VVV-Venlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lasse Wehmeyer 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 is 20 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Cody Dijks on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
4 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.
Hobie Verhulst 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.
At 22 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 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.
Marked 7.64. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
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.” Cody Dijks kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Nobody at VVV-Venlo 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dean Zandbergen provided it, and the 8.74 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Lasse Wehmeyer 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dean Zandbergen. 3‑1 against Jong Ajax, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at VVV-Venlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philip Heise 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.
6 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” Cody Dijks kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutDani Mathieu has become a man the manager trusts
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.
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 is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabin Blancquart 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.
7.44, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. VVV-Venlo had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Cody Dijks was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the VVV-Venlo dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Mathijs Menu
A mark of 7.63 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at VVV-Venlo 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.
VVV-Venlo asked and PSV 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 20 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Diego van Oorschot. 1‑0 against ADO Den Haag, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Cody Dijks could afford to be generous.
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.
“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 VVV-Venlo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 15 gone
That is the business done at VVV-Venlo 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dani Mathieu has just signed for VVV-Venlo, and for once the answer mattered.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. VVV-Venlo will try again when the window opens; Utrecht may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at VVV-Venlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philip Heise 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Hobie Verhulst’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The offer from FF Jaro for Armin Ćulum 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Didillon-Hödl and Willem II agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Thomas Didillon-Hödl 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.
Willem II asked and KAA Gent said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Willem II know it.
Still no offer on the table, and Vito van Crooij’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kasper Boogaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
SuperSport United 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.
In brief
The dugoutMaxim Dekker knocks on the manager’s door