Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Jorthy Mokio 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.
Jamie Jacobs 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 19 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.
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Jorthy Mokio 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.
“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 ratings20 Sep 2027
Jamie Jacobs was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
“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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Sami Bouhoudane, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 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.
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.
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 Thomas Beelen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 14 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sami Bouhoudane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almere City asked and Alverca said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
5 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ferdy Druijf 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.
5 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.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sami Bouhoudane did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sami Bouhoudane was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almere City asked and Leeds United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Jamie Jacobs 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 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Sami Bouhoudane 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.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorthy Mokio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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.
Almere City moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Guus Timber, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
In brief
SquadWords at Almere City training over how hard people work
Sami Bouhoudane 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 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.
Squad9 Aug 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joyce Nsingi and Almere City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
9 new faces, and Almere City are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Almere City heard it as anything else.
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 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Thomas Beelen has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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 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.
“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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basaksehir have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Almere City have made the call to Spezia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Thomas Beelen 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 asked and Parma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
10 new faces, and Almere City are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Almere City know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“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.
Almere City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Udinese, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Thomas Beelen 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zaragoza have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Jamie Jacobs 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutJunior Kadile knocks on the manager’s door
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel van de Blaak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Almere City know it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Almere City will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bas Huisman has his answer from Almere City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 deal with Feyenoord 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorthy Mokio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Emmanuel Poku has come up in conversations Almere City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Crystal Palace is saying, and nobody at Almere City is enjoying the guessing.
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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Jorthy Mokio 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Twente have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
7 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Luciano Valente is in the works
“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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Liam van Nistelrooij is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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 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.
Squad7 Jun 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.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
A loan enquiry to Crystal Palace: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
“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.
Squad31 May 2027
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tristan Kuijsten signs something — a contract at Almere City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Enzo Cornelisse 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Beelen 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 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.
Position 4 on 69 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“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.
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 69 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mick Venetis did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.00, 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Mick Venetis 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mick Venetis. 1‑0 against Jong Ajax, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
15 goals and a season average of 7.25. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Beelen 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.
Jamie Jacobs 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 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.
“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.
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Almere City know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Beelen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emmanuel van de Blaak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Apr 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 0‑1 Guus Timber left the room before anybody could ask which.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“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 mark of 7.91 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.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Almere City know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
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.
Junior Kadile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Thomas Beelen 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Guus Timber could afford to be generous.
Marked 9.94 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A brace, and Junior Kadile takes the afternoon — 8.58
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Junior Kadile provided it, and the 8.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7.56, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
“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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.15, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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.
A season average of 7.05 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Almere City know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Jamie Jacobs 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.
Marked 8.17 — 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Guus Timber on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Thomas Beelen 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 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.
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.
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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Beelen 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.
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Guus Timber chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
“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.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Liam van Nistelrooij did not need any: 8.45, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.10, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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.
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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
A season average of 7.06 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Almere City know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Liam van Nistelrooij is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Beelen 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 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bas Janssen has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Wout Frimpong is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Byron Burgering was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
“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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Dordrecht left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
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.
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.
Emmen left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Guus Timber to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Jong Utrecht will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Almere City were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and De Graafschap waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Almere City is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 8.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Marley Cruz, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.03
A mark of 8.03 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
At 18, Jorthy Mokio is already the best thing here
An average of 7.04 in a first team he is several years too young for. Almere City have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Almere City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Basaksehir, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Byron Burgering and Almere City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Almere City close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
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. Racing Genk have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 18 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.
Add another name to the list: De Graafschap have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Hamza el Dahri. The answer from Almere City has not changed — yet.
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.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Liam van Nistelrooij provided it, and the 8.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
He is 18 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 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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Crystal Palace keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KV Kortrijk have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Jan 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.
Blackburn Rovers 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.12, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
At 18 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.
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. Coventry City have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Salim Musah did not need any: 9.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Liam van Nistelrooij provided it, and the 8.90 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.
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.
8 goals in one match, Salim Musah on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Almere City and Jong Ajax.
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.
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.
8.16. 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.
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.
A 2‑2 draw with De Graafschap leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Guus Timber chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Position 3, 34 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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.
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.
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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Liam van Nistelrooij’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Almere City.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marley Cruz 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
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.
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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Den Bosch tried to reorganise, Almere City did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Junior Kadile and Almere City agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Jorthy Mokio 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 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Guus Timber on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Junior Kadile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marley Cruz 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.
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.
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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Guus Timber chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Emmanuel van de Blaak’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Almere City needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
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 Marley Cruz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Guus Timber on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Olivier de Nijs and Almere City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Almere City that is a harder question to answer.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Jorthy Mokio 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 Junior Kadile trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Heracles go through and Almere City go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Salim Musah, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.13
A mark of 8.13 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Jorthy Mokio 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.
At 20 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
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 hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Liam van Nistelrooij did not need any: 7.78, 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 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.
Marked 8.28 — 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Guus Timber on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Something was said to Marley Cruz and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Almere City and Dordrecht, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ferdy Druijf was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.84. 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.
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Almere City. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Marley Cruz 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.
Jamie Jacobs 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Almere City told Thomas Beelen something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
At 19 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Almere City are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“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 crowd waited for a goal that never came. Emmen defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
5 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A brace, and Salim Musah takes the afternoon — 9.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Salim Musah provided it, and the 9.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Liam van Nistelrooij did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Liam van Nistelrooij is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Almere City and Jong Utrecht in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Junior Kadile 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 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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Byron Burgering 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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zaragoza have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Milan de Haan 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.
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.
Marked 7.91. 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 Sep 2026
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.” Guus Timber, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Almere City close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 22 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Francs Borains have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Junior Kadile.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marley Cruz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
10 new faces, and Almere City are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Fréderic Soelle Soelle arrives from RWDM with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Junior Kadile takes the afternoon — 8.34
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Junior Kadile provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Marley Cruz did not need any: 8.21, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Almere City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at FC Copenhagen, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
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.
“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.
Everything agreed with Feyenoord, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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. Zurich 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.
The dugout24 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Guus Timber to a room that had heard them before.
Almere City have made the call to FC Copenhagen. 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.
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 Zaragoza said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 Aug 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 Guus Timber left the room before anybody could ask which.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Almere City are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sisqo Lever 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.
Everything agreed with Feyenoord, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Job Kalisvaart and Almere City agree another 4 years.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Francs Borains have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rick Lang has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Owen Gravenberch is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Arnaut Stengs is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jeroen De Ligt is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastiaan Hagedoorn and Almere City agree another 4 years.
Almere City have made the call to Ajax. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
A strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.