Successful dribbles: 38. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cambuur has been clear about where Jasper Klaassen stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 Nicky Souren is on it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cambuur, and both men came out saying it was fine.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“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.
Squad14 Feb 2033
Nicky Souren 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Cambuur asked and Utrecht 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Wiebe Kooistra commits to Cambuur for another 4 years.
Squad7 Feb 2033
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thijs Jansen 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.
Cambuur ran out of time with Ajax. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Willem II had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Cambuur did not stop to explain themselves.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cambuur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cambuur have done the hard part with Ajax, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Zwolle is saying, and nobody at Cambuur is enjoying the guessing.
Squad31 Jan 2033
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
9 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.
9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cambuur can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Utrecht this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Cambuur had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at De Graafschap, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
Sven Douwes 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and De Graafschap waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cambuur is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
8 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.
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
The deal with De Graafschap 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 Thijs Jansen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 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.
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marten Xavi Simons has just signed for Cambuur, and for once the answer mattered.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cambuur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thijs Jansen 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 Jan 2033
Nicky Souren 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
6 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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cambuur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 Jan 2033
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout3 Jan 2033
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 0‑4 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad27 Dec 2032
Thijs Jansen 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.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Thijs Jansen
“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 Cambuur, 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad20 Dec 2032
Nicky Souren 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 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.
Nobody at Cambuur will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The 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 Feyenoord.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cambuur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Nicky Souren 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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 Ismaël Baouf is on it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Cambuur pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thijs Jansen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 14, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Cambuur dressing room in a hurry
The dugoutIsmaël Baouf is still being punished for one mistake
1‑0 against Köln, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Nicolas Binder was at the centre of the description.
11 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Köln were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Cambuur pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 10 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Nicky Souren 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.
Sven Douwes 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.
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.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
In brief
The dugoutDiego Rambocus asks for a word with the manager
9 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cambuur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thijs Jansen 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.
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 Wiebe Kooistra is on 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 Cambuur, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0‑1 away to the standard of Novi Pazar. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Nov 2032
Nicky Souren 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 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Sven Douwes
The dugoutSven Douwes dropped after a run of poor form
6 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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
0‑1 to Zwolle, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Nov 2032
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Ethan Apkakou is on it.
The dugout1 Nov 2032
Amar Bakkati is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cambuur can pretend not to have heard.
0‑1 away to the standard of Novi Pazar. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad25 Oct 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Apkakou 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyrell Dendoe will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cambuur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Oct 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“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.
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.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Squad11 Oct 2032
Nicky Souren 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.
Something was said to Diego Rambocus and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Heracles? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nicky Souren’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Cambuur needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Two goals and a mark of 9.24 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
0‑2 against Leiria. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur 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 Ethan Apkakou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cambuur, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
1‑6. Köln play this football every year and it showed in every part of the pitch. The lesson is expensive and, for a club at this stage, probably necessary.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyrell Dendoe will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cambuur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Cambuur and Köln, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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: 19. 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.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 0 saves does not settle it either way.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑6, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon belonged to Nicky Souren
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Heracles have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad13 Sep 2032
Ethan Apkakou 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑3 against Utrecht, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Cambuur close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 16 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cambuur have done the hard part with ADO Den Haag, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Nicky Souren 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Cambuur asked and Benfica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have shaken hands with Utrecht; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Paris Saint-Germain 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ADO Den Haag have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sven Douwes 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.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
ADO Den Haag have accepted the money. What Cambuur do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tyrell Dendoe will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cambuur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Day 14 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Apkakou 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.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and the manager clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Cambuur scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cambuur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Cambuur people have started saying his name in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur 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.” Thomas Buitink and Cambuur agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2032
Nicky Souren 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.
Cambuur have made the call to Grimsby Town. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Inter keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
$350.0K on the table at ADO Den Haag. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Buitink and Cambuur agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Aug 2032
Ethan Apkakou 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. Barcelona have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Tyrell Dendoe again, and this time the name on the line is De Graafschap. Cambuur are listening politely and promising nothing.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Squad26 Jul 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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 list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Tarik Hamamioglu may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
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 Tyrell Dendoe is on it.
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
$1.1M on the table at Heracles. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Mathieu Maertens 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 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabian Kvam is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal with ADO Den Haag 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad12 Jul 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Apkakou 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 loan enquiry to Club Brugge: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Jul 2032
The manager has not finished forgetting Iwan Henstra's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 Martijn Berden is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Cambuur, and it is not being withdrawn.
Cambuur have gone to Heracles with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad5 Jul 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Apkakou 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.
Cambuur asked and Real Madrid said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Everything was agreed with ADO Den Haag and then the doctor spoke. Cambuur have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Thijs Jansen 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 Nicolas Binder, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Fabian Kvam 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.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nout Ruitenberg has just signed for Cambuur, and for once the answer mattered.
Cambuur and ADO Den Haag have settled on $610.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Thijs Jansen 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. Benfica have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Everything agreed with ADO Den Haag, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Ethan Apkakou 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.
Cambuur asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Barcelona: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout14 Jun 2032
The manager has not finished forgetting Iwan Henstra's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 Martijn Berden is on it.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cambuur have done the hard part with Club Brugge, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barcelona have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabian Kvam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 64 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad31 May 2032
Ethan Apkakou 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.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
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 Diego Rambocus has written the date down.
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad24 May 2032
Ethan Apkakou 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur 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 Fabian Kvam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout17 May 2032
Iwan Henstra is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The words a physio says slowly. 91 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Thijs Jansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2032
Ethan Apkakou 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutMarco Simons has become a man the manager trusts
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cambuur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thijs Jansen 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 Ethan Apkakou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Tyrell Dendoe is on it.
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.
Nicky Souren damages knee ligaments — 114 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 114 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabian Kvam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
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.
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cambuur lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Ethan Apkakou 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.
Sven Douwes 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 dugout19 Apr 2032
Iwan Henstra is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Martijn Berden is on it.
133 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cambuur lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ethan Apkakou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Reen Zandstra 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabian Kvam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cambuur told Diego Rambocus something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
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.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 35, with 56 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cambuur, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout29 Mar 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Cambuur dressing room was either.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Nicky Souren 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.
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
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 the manager to a room that had heard them before.
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.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
Iwan Henstra is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
The dugoutMartijn Berden has become a man the manager trusts
6 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Thijs Jansen 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 Mar 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabian Kvam 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.
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 Tarik Hamamioglu.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Cambuur 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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. ADO Den Haag defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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.
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Thomas Buitink will call it something else in private.
A 1‑1 draw with Excelsior leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout8 Mar 2032
the manager: “We have to be better”
“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.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Ismaël Baouf
The dugoutMartijn Berden dropped after a run of poor form
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Nicky Souren 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.
A point taken on 93 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.
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 Ismaël Baouf.
Sven Douwes 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.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout1 Mar 2032
the manager: “We have to be better”
“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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Mathieu Maertens 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.
Squad23 Feb 2032
Fabian Kvam 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 dugout23 Feb 2032
the manager: “We have to be better”
“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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Zwolle? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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 Martijn Berden is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Tarik Hamamioglu’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Cambuur needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
Fabian Kvam 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 easiest signature of my career.” Tim Promes and Cambuur agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
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 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
The manager has not finished forgetting Iwan Henstra's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Thijs Jansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Nicky Souren 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Cambuur will try again when the window opens; Groningen may not be selling by then.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 Feb 2032
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.” the manager chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lucas Schottmans has his answer from Cambuur; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal with Groningen 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nicolas Binder. 1‑0 against Heracles, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad2 Feb 2032
Fabian Kvam 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 run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Cambuur are no longer polite ones.
The terraces26 Jan 2032
The mood at Cambuur has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Cambuur and Heracles have settled on $1.1M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Nicky Souren 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jan 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
Cambuur asked and Aston Villa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Cambuur know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The deal with Heerenveen 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Catania have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Mathieu Maertens and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabian Kvam 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.
Position 16 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cambuur can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Nicky Souren 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. AS Roma have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Vince Gino Dekker has his answer from Cambuur; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Thijs Jansen 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 Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Steven Simons and Cambuur agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
Thijs Jansen 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.
200 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabian Kvam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout22 Dec 2031
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 the manager to a room that had heard them before.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Thijs Jansen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Nicky Souren 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
Half-satisfied: the manager on the draw
“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 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 dugout15 Dec 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Iwan Henstra's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Nicky Souren 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.
Something was said to Nicolas Binder and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
The mood at Cambuur has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
Thijs Jansen 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.
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Fabian Kvam 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.
Position 14, 12 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cambuur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Nicky Souren 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.
Mathieu Maertens 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.
“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 dugout24 Nov 2031
the manager answers for it
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cambuur can tell you which week it ends in.
Reen Zandstra 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.
ADO Den Haag left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabian Kvam was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sven Douwes 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 dugout10 Nov 2031
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 the manager to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against ADO Den Haag in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Thijs Jansen 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 Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Cambuur dressing room was either.
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.
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 Tyrell Dendoe is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Cambuur. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cambuur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
11 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Zwolle were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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: Wiebe Kooistra. 1‑0 against Zwolle, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings27 Oct 2031
Wiebe Kooistra was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. 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 dugout27 Oct 2031
the manager: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
11 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
the manager: “No excuses”
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Zwolle next, and one man in the Cambuur dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
10 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.
Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Nicky Souren 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Roda had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
A 1‑1 draw with Roda leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout13 Oct 2031
the manager: “We have to be better”
“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.
9 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicky Souren and Cambuur agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vince Gino Dekker 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.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Cambuur dressing room was either.
8 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.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bas Strootman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Cambuur dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Willem II defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cambuur have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Cambuur will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Ajax left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Sep 2031
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 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
6 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur 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 Nicky Souren 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.” Wout Timber and Cambuur agree another 3 years.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Cambuur dressing room was either.
The mood at Cambuur has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Maertens 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 8.10 — 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.
Cambuur close the window on a squad of their own making
20 in and 9 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.
Cambuur offered $600.0K; De Graafschap said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lucas Schottmans is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nathan Depay is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The offer went to De Graafschap this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Cambuur offered $630.0K; Vitesse said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Johan Veenstra is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Willem II waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cambuur is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cambuur can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Heracles 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.
Cambuur have gone to Vitesse with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
At 23 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 Mathieu Maertens 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. Villarreal have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cambuur have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with De Graafschap 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.
At 23 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.
Mathieu Maertens 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.
13 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.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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. Heracles have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“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 Cambuur, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Cambuur offered $530.0K; NEC said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Cambuur asked and Heracles said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fabian Kvam 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Cambuur people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cambuur they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer went to NEC this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Johan Veenstra is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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 did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Heiðar Ægisson has his answer from Cambuur; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
De Graafschap have accepted the money. What Cambuur do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Damy Bernardina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cambuur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Cambuur had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Feyenoord, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur 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 Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cambuur asked and Sporting CP said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The mood at Cambuur has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Heerenveen have accepted the money. What Cambuur do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Maertens 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. Heracles have kept their man, and Cambuur go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Damy Bernardina again, and this time the name on the line is Willem II. Cambuur are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The deal with Utrecht 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 Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 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.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Reen Zandstra has moved up 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 Cambuur 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 Nicky Souren was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Marco Simons is on it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cambuur have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lanvin Warmerdam will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cambuur the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Reen Zandstra 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The mood at Cambuur has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cambuur have done the hard part with NEC, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer from Willem II for Damy Bernardina 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cambuur 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.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Cambuur $433.3K. Skye Vink left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
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 Tyrell Dendoe is on it.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cambuur have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cambuur can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Utrecht keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Cambuur asked and Heracles said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Thijs Jansen 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Nicky Souren 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 phone has started ringing about Damy Bernardina again, and this time the name on the line is Willem II. Cambuur are listening politely and promising nothing.
Cambuur have made the call to Borussia Dortmund. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“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 Cambuur, 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 Cambuur this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Maertens 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.
Cambuur asked and Utrecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Lanvin Warmerdam again, and this time the name on the line is De Graafschap. Cambuur are listening politely and promising nothing.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Nicky Souren was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
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.
Sven Douwes 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad19 May 2031
Nicky Souren 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.
Nobody at Cambuur 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.
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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Cambuur would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Maertens 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.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Cambuur would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cambuur has been clear about where Reen Zandstra stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 Diego Rambocus has written the date down.
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 Marco Simons is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Cambuur is running low.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Nicky Souren 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.
Sven Douwes 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cambuur know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Thijs Jansen 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.
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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Thijs Jansen 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 Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Words at Cambuur training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicky Souren 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.
Two players, one bad tackle and a session that had to be stopped. It was over in a minute; it was outside the gates in an hour.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
Nicky Souren loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Nicky Souren's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Damy Bernardina has his answer from Cambuur; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Vince Gino Dekker has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutMarco Simons has become a man the manager trusts
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 22 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathieu Maertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Vitesse were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.