A brace, and Junior Kadile takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Junior Kadile provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and ADO Den Haag were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
A loan enquiry to Vitesse: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
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.” Daley Timber, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamza el Dahri 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.
Junior Kadile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 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.
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 Tristan Kuijsten was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Duwain Jackson and Almere City agree another 4 years.
“I watch every Almere City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Groningen runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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.
Out, 1‑2 to Fortuna Sittard, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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 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.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tristan Kuijsten was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout13 Dec 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.” Daley Timber chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Milan de Haan. 1‑0 against Jong PSV, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 7.75 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Almere City had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout6 Dec 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 0‑2 Daley Timber left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutIrakli Yegoian dropped after a run of poor form
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.
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.
“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 21 say he has earned the hearing.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Daley Timber on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Two goals and a mark of 9.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Amir Ismaïl. 2‑1 against VVV-Venlo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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.
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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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 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.
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 Teun Bijleveld is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Almere City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Almere City would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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.
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.
Nobody at Almere City 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.
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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Almere City would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Jong AZ had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Almere City did not stop to explain themselves.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
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.
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 Tristan Kuijsten 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. Sebastiaan Hagedoorn 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.
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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout25 Oct 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Daley Timber to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Dordrecht left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout18 Oct 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 Daley Timber left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Boyd Lucassen
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Cambuur 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.
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.
Junior Kadile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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 Junior Kadile signs something — a contract at Almere City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Almere City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Hamza el Dahri has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Richard van der Venne and Almere City agree another 1 years.
It needed Milan de Haan to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Emmen, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Daley Timber was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Almere City dressing room was either.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Jong Utrecht were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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 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.
20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sebastiaan Hagedoorn. 1‑0 against Jong Utrecht, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KAA Gent 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 23-year-old it feels ownership of. William Clem 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.
19 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
A mark of 8.41 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.
“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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp and Almere City agree another 5 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tristan Kuijsten was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Karlsruher SC have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 19 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.
“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 13 signed and 15 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 Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 going to Volendam, the club has $2.4M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
“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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from NAC Breda for Ferdy Druijf was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
Almere City asked and Olympiacos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have 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.
“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.
Everything agreed with Olympiacos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Georginio De Ligt 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Frenkie Frimpong 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.
The phone has started ringing about Ferdy Druijf again, and this time the name on the line is Den Bosch. Almere City are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almere City asked and Twente 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 Almere City, 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 Junior Kadile trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Almere City will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Ferdy Druijf and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PSV have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Richard van der Venne and Almere City agree another 1 years.
“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.
“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 Club Brugge 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.
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. RWDM have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
5 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.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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.
Almere City asked and Antwerp said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Almere City know it.
“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.
Milan de Haan has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“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.
The deal with FC Nordsjaelland 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.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Jul 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joep Kluskens trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: RWDM keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PSV 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.
Almere City have made the call to FC Nordsjaelland. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Almere City have done the hard part with FC Copenhagen, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Almere City know which stage they are at.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” ADO Den Haag had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
Almere City asked and MVV Maastricht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sevilla is saying, and nobody at Almere City is enjoying the guessing.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Almere City asked and Ajax said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have 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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Marley Dors has agreed terms with Helmond Sport for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
Ferdy Druijf and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Len Bakker has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Almere City have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp signs something — a contract at Almere City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Almere City have no good answer.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Milan de Haan has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
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.
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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 88. De Graafschap had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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.
The dugout10 May 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.” Daley Timber chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Nobody at Almere City is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Oualid Agougil’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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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 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.
Ferdy Druijf 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 Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout26 Apr 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Daley Timber to a room that had heard them before.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Joep Kluskens.
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.
Ferdy Druijf 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Daley Timber after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑0 against Jong PSV, and it could have been more.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A brace, and Ferdy Druijf takes the afternoon — 9.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ferdy Druijf provided it, and the 9.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 9.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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 Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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. Amir Ismaïl 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.
Marked 8.52 — 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.
100 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.
“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.
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.
Ferdy Druijf and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daley Timber after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Teun Bijleveld’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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almere City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
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 Tiziano Vianello has written the date down.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
“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.
Junior Kadile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Almere City 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
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.
A mark of 7.95, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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.” Daley Timber, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
VVV-Venlo 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.
Jong AZ will want this one forgotten quickly: 9‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Almere City were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Almere City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
9 goals in one match, Ferdy Druijf on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Almere City and Jong AZ.
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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daley Timber after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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.
“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.
7.40, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Almere City had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout22 Feb 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.” Daley Timber chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
1‑2 to Emmen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
“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 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Daley Timber to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
In brief
The dugoutJoep Kluskens asks for a word with the manager
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 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.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Amir Ismaïl was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 12 goals between Almere City and Jong Utrecht, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Almere City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vitesse keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Fosu-Mensah 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.
Almere City asked and Luzern said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 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.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Amir Ismaïl was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.17. 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.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. TOP Oss kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Almere City will be asked about the last half hour all week.
The offer from Utrecht for Emmanuel van de Blaak was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Almere City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Anderlecht, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Almere City asked and KAA Gent said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Almere City.
The dugout18 Jan 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Daley Timber to a room that had heard them before.
Two goals and a mark of 9.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The deal that would have taken Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp to Ajax has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Almere City with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
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.
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 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 10.00 — 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.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Junior Kadile. 2‑1 against De Graafschap, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Daley Timber on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Daley Timber after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against De Graafschap in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
The dugoutJoep Kluskens knocks on the manager's door
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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Almere City told Milan de Haan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Amir Ismaïl did not need any: 8.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.08, 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.
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.
Junior Kadile scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Roda, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Jong PSV in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nobody at Almere City is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
A brace, and Amir Ismaïl takes the afternoon — 9.54
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Amir Ismaïl provided it, and the 9.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A mark of 7.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 97. VVV-Venlo had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Daley Timber after the 3‑3 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Sisqo Lever 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.
VVV-Venlo 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Almere City have no good answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Job Kalisvaart trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Milan de Haan and Almere City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Almere City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tristan Kuijsten 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout9 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.” Daley Timber chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; 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 Joep Kluskens trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
7.30, 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Leonel Miguel has, at Almere City, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
0‑3 to Cambuur, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Jong AZ in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tristan Kuijsten was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Oualid Agougil is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jochem Ritmeester van de Kamp and Almere City agree another 4 years.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“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 Joep Kluskens.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Almere City has been clear about where Georginio Gakpo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Almere City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Junior Kadile
10Edition
The Almere City Chronicle
5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondentCrisis
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Amir Ismaïl, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.17
A mark of 8.17 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Sam Ringeling is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
11 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.
The dugout5 Oct 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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Daley Timber to a room that had heard them before.
Squad5 Oct 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Amir Ismaïl did not need any: 8.58, 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Ferdy Druijf was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
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.
12 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.
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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Junior Kadile had Almere City level again within 2 minutes, and MVV Maastricht never got to play with a lead at all.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jesper van Riel and Almere City agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Georginio Gakpo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Oualid Agougil’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.
“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 Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cercle Brugge have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
RKC Waalwijk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Sep 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 Daley Timber to a room that had heard them before.
“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 Almere City will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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.
Almere City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at PSV, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
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.
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.
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Almere City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Standard Liege is saying, and nobody at Almere City is enjoying the guessing.
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. Standard Liege have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Junior Kadile. 1‑0 against TOP Oss, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Junior Kadile was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. 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.
Cercle Brugge 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.
SquadByron Burgering falls out with a teammate over standards
4Edition
The Almere City Chronicle
24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondentUneasy
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Amir Ismaïl, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.89
A mark of 7.89 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Everything agreed with Standard Liege, 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. Standard Liege have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sisqo Lever was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against TOP Oss.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Memphis Berghuis 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. Marten De Jong 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. Marco De Ligt 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. Tim Dumfries is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cagliari have kept their man, and Almere City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Brentford. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Almere City have made the call to Heerenveen. 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.