The Excelsior Gazette
Squad31 Aug 2026
Stijn van Gassel stands alone
10 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
No deal for Victor Jensen at that price
Excelsior offered $1.5M; Utrecht said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Esmir Bajraktarević due for a Excelsior medical
Everything agreed with PSV, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Excelsior rebuffed over Fabio Kluit
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PSV have kept their man, and Excelsior go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Excelsior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aymen Sliti 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Excelsior against Utrecht
0‑2 to Utrecht, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Aymen Sliti was unplayable
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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Ryan Lang: “No excuses”
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Mike van Duinen
“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.
In brief
- The dugout Adam Maher does not fit this one
- The dugout Casper Widell knocks on the manager's door
- Squad Yacqub Finey still has not settled