From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A defender's afternoon for Noah Naujoks
Defensive actions: 35. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Noah Naujoks 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Add another name to the list: Cittadella have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Shedrach Ebite. The answer from Excelsior has not changed — yet.
Match9 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Szymon Włodarczyk. 1‑0 against De Graafschap, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.51, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market11 Jan 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Excelsior signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A defender's afternoon for Casper Widell
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Excelsior may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Excelsior will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Excelsior
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Irakli Yegoian 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
0‑2 to Groningen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market4 Jan 2027
He is 19, and nobody at Excelsior signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market4 Jan 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Yassir Bakkali, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Kasey Bos
“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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 98% of everything Excelsior earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Lewis Schouten 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.26, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Gyan de Regt
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.69, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Dec 2026
5‑1, and Szymon Włodarczyk took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Excelsior tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad7 Dec 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match5 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Excelsior right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Irakli Yegoian 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.62, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 9.39 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 9.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Tiago Azulão
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Nov 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Vitesse, and it could have been more.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.72 — 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 45 days on the sidelines for Yassir Bakkali, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A defender's afternoon for Casper Widell
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Kasey Bos
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kasey Bos, and the manager let it.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 106% of everything Excelsior earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Irakli Yegoian unhappy with how he is being used
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Irakli Yegoian has let it be known that he does not like the way Excelsior are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Irakli Yegoian 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 9.06 — 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Excelsior get the job done against AZ
A 2‑1 win over AZ, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.57 — 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 56 days on the sidelines for Nino Cappon, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Excelsior were not finished after all
Written off a fortnight ago, the squad has closed ranks and answered on the pitch. Something was said behind that door, and so far it is holding.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Nov 2026
PSV ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Cambuur, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad16 Nov 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Calvin Raatsie knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mounir El Allouchi 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
ADO Den Haag left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Rick Meissen
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Shots: 4. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Szymon Włodarczyk. 2‑1 against Twente, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tiago Azulão, and the manager let it.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 106% of everything Excelsior earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lennard Hartjes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Mounir El Allouchi has let it be known that he does not like the way Excelsior are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Noa El Hamdaoui: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Excelsior have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Irakli Yegoian 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 85 days on the sidelines for Nino Cappon, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shedrach Ebite, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Excelsior against NEC
1‑3 to NEC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stijn van Gassel, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A mark of 5.64 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. Excelsior have a player doing his work under protest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 35 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mounir El Allouchi 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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.83 on the card, and the Excelsior support went home talking about one name.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Excelsior may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Excelsior, 2‑1 the final word against Heracles in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 9.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
155% of the income goes out in wages at Excelsior
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Georginio Dost, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rick Meissen, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Szymon Włodarczyk 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Excelsior, 2‑1 the final word against Willem II in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Excelsior
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Excelsior are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Excelsior against Ajax
0‑1 to Ajax, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 25 days on the sidelines for Jort Roovers, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mounir El Allouchi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Calvin Raatsie: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 0‑1 win over De Graafschap, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad14 Sep 2026
Irakli Yegoian 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Quinten Kraaivanger, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
The kick that got away from Nesto Groen
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Sep 2026
The Cambuur deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Rayvian Job reports back to Excelsior with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Groningen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Kasey Bos gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Sep 2026
44 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Szymon Włodarczyk, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market31 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Rayvian Job again, and this time the name on the line is Cambuur. Excelsior are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match29 Aug 2026
Utrecht made Excelsior work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Mounir El Allouchi 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rick Meissen, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Gyan de Regt 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Stijn van Gassel knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Yacqub Finey
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Szymon Włodarczyk 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
PSV left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stijn van Gassel, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Irakli Yegoian and Excelsior agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Szymon Włodarczyk 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market10 Aug 2026
He is 16, and nobody at Excelsior signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market10 Aug 2026
He is 16, and nobody at Excelsior signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stijn van Gassel and Excelsior agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Excelsior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Stijn van Gassel’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market3 Aug 2026
Shedrach Ebite is 20, and Excelsior have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market3 Aug 2026
No place for Rayvian Job in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Rayvian Job has his answer from Excelsior; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Irakli Yegoian asks for a word with the manager
“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.