Marked for Nick Twisk
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces9 Aug 2027
The mood at Vitesse has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad9 Aug 2027
36 days out for Solomon Bonnah after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Vitesse will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market9 Aug 2027
Nick Twisk hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vitesse can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Aug 2027
At 22 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Vitesse
Chofis and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Vitesse
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daley Blind was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Austria Wien have kept their man, and Vitesse go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Geronimo Londar, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead9 Aug 2027
AZ next, and one man in the Vitesse dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
51 days out for Solomon Bonnah after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Vitesse will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vitesse can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Vitesse people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market26 Jul 2027
The paperwork is done: Oskar Zawada joins from Groningen in a deal worth $1.1M. Now comes the harder part.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Chofis in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vitesse this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
De Graafschap wanted more than $380.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Bart Schenkeveld 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Vitesse 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Too much change too quickly at Vitesse
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vitesse can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Nick Twisk: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vitesse have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Vitesse
Gaoussou Diarra 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
Daley Blind 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
1‑2 to Excelsior, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Everything rides on Cambuur
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Vitesse know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Valon Zumberi
“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 dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Memphis Clasie left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Feb 2027
10 matches without a win for Vitesse
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Vitesse are no longer polite ones.
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vitesse can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Vitesse are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Vitesse
Gaoussou Diarra 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Vitesse training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Schenkeveld 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 terraces1 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
17 matches without a win for Vitesse
The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Vitesse are no longer polite ones.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Vitesse board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Vitesse may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Gaoussou Diarra 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Vitesse
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nabil Jaadi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Rick Promes left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Vitesse's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Vitesse has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Oct 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Vitesse cannot find the net
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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; Vitesse are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Vitesse
Gaoussou Diarra 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nick Twisk and Vitesse agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match10 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Vitesse against Ajax
0‑2 to Ajax, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.