VVV-Venlo 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.
Add another name to the list: Excelsior have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Trevor Doornbusch. The answer from VVV-Venlo has not changed — yet.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at VVV-Venlo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Lelieveld 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 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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jorg Schreuders provided it, and the 8.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
6 goals in one match, Jorg Schreuders on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of VVV-Venlo and Jong AZ.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Jorg Schreuders 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at VVV-Venlo has been clear about where Philip Heise stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
“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 The request is on a desk at VVV-Venlo, and it is not being withdrawn.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.
Mohammad Mahmoud 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.
VVV-Venlo asked and CFR Cluj 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Dailoski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
$1.3M on the table at Utrecht. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Hobie Verhulst and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 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.
VVV-Venlo 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.
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.
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 Thomas Reinders is on it.
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.
The deal with MVV Maastricht 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kevin van Ouytsel is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad7 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.
VVV-Venlo asked and Sparta Rotterdam said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dean Zandbergen 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.
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.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Emmen had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and VVV-Venlo did not stop to explain themselves.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Kyano Kwint has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The 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 8.03 — 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Cody Dijks could afford to be generous.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
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.
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.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation VVV-Venlo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
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
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.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 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 not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation VVV-Venlo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The fee is $320.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. AZ drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Dean Zandbergen 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 Lasse Wehmeyer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
VVV-Venlo asked and Zulte Waregem 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 manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑5 defeat, delivered by Cody Dijks to a room that had heard them before.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 3 saves does not settle it either way.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Sean Steur is in the works
The dugoutDaniël Deen dropped after a run of poor form
Two goals and a mark of 8.27 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Dean Zandbergen 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.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Daniël Deen has, at VVV-Venlo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $4.1M — a club that wants Gonzalo Crettaz enough to be asked twice.
$380.0K on the table at Feyenoord. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philip Heise was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the VVV-Venlo dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at VVV-Venlo, another week without a signature from Daniël Deen.