13 Jul 2028
Thursday
Process
102 Edition

The Roda Post

10 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

127 days out for Mitchell Paulissen after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Roda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Roda turn down NEC for Michael Breij

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Sem Yvel hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

The step up is real for Mik Vergoossen

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Clermont Foot tell Roda: Romain Montiel is not for sale

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.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Roda try to borrow Leander Tielemans

KAA Gent have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief

Back issues
101 Edition

The Roda Post

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

135 days out for Mitchell Paulissen after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Roda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Roda

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Market

Hugo Lacroix hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Bruno Godeau 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.

Transfer targets

Roda baulk at the price for Seth Annink

Zwolle wanted more than $220.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim Cissoko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Utrecht tell Roda: Tijn den Boggende is not for sale

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.

The dugout

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Squad

Rayan Khoums stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Rayan Khoums and Roda agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

100 Edition

The Roda Post

26 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

142 days out for Mitchell Paulissen after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Roda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Paul Mullin due for a Roda medical

Everything agreed with Derby County, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Transfer targets

Roda bid $220.0K for Seth Annink

The offer went to Zwolle 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.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Sebastian Soto

Roda asked and Cardiff City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Mitchell Paulissen 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 dugout

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Squad

Lenn Copier signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lenn Copier commits to Roda for another 4 years.

In brief

99 Edition

The Roda Post

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Roda 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.

Transfer targets

Roda agree $610.0K for Joppe Hakstege

The clubs have shaken hands with Zwolle; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Market

Ouassim El-Akrouche puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Jonathan Afolabi due for a Roda medical

Everything agreed with Standard Liege, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

The step up is real for Keanu Van Mieghem

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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Tol 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.

Transfer targets

Wrexham tell Roda: Modou Faal is not for sale

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.

The dugout

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In brief

98 Edition

The Roda Post

12 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Transfer targets

Racing Genk tell Roda: Robin Mirisola is not for sale

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.

Squad

Roda lose Toby Januzaj

36 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout

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The dugout

Ibrahim Cissoko knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Roda, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

When it matters, Ilias Takidine plays

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.

The dugout

Jesse Schuurman has been promised minutes

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 Jesse Schuurman has written the date down.

Market

Larson Ferati leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Larson Ferati leaves Roda the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief

  • Boardroom The Roda academy earns its keep
  • Match A season winding down at Roda
  • Squad Jorrit Smeets back in training
97 Edition

The Roda Post

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Roda

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Roda is running low.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim Cissoko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Clermont Foot tell Roda: Romain Montiel is not for sale

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.

Squad

Late improvement for Toby Januzaj

At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

The dugout

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The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jorrit Smeets

“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.

Transfer targets

Roda ask about Robin Mirisola

A loan enquiry to Racing Genk: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Roda try to borrow Giacomo Koloto

Basel have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief

  • Boardroom Roda pull $5.9M back off the table
  • Boardroom The window opens at Roda
  • Squad Rayan Khoums wants out of the dugout
96 Edition

The Roda Post

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Real improvement from Saúl Vallejo at Roda

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Saúl Vallejo is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Marco Tol 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 dugout

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The dugout

A promise honoured for Mitchell Paulissen

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Roda told Mitchell Paulissen something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

95 Edition

The Roda Post

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Roda 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.

Market

Daniël Deen asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko 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 dugout

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Squad

Keanu Van Mieghem signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Keanu Van Mieghem commits to Roda for another 4 years.

In brief

94 Edition

The Roda Post

15 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Jorrit Smeets keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Roda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Tol 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 dugout

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The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jesse Schuurman

“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.

Squad

The formation has left Maryus Lefevre behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Roda will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief

93 Edition

The Roda Post

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Anthony van den Hurk signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Anthony van den Hurk commits to Roda for another 2 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Maryus Lefevre gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Maryus Lefevre has just signed for Roda, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Marco Tol 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 dugout

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The dugout

No hiding place for Jorrit Smeets

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorrit Smeets, and the manager let it.

Market

A long bet from Roda on Maryus Lefevre

He is 19, and nobody at Roda signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

The dugout

A door opens for Jesse Schuurman

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 dugout

Rayan Khoums 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.

In brief

  • Boardroom The Roda production line keeps running
  • Match Nothing left to play for but pride at Roda
92 Edition

The Roda Post

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evan Rottier was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ibrahim Cissoko

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahim Cissoko, and the manager let it.

The dugout

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The dugout

Koen Jansen 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.

In brief

91 Edition

The Roda Post

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Roda 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.

Market

Daniël Deen puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Cissoko 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 dugout

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The dugout

Ibrahim Cissoko knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Roda, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

90 Edition

The Roda Post

17 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koen 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.

The dugout

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Squad

Roda are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

Ilias Takidine has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Roda 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 dugout

The manager makes Jesse Schuurman a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Roda. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

89 Edition

The Roda Post

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko 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 dugout

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Squad

Traianos Mokris signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Traianos Mokris commits to Roda for another 3 years.

Squad

No place for Traianos Mokris in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Roda are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

The dugout

Toby Januzaj 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.

In brief

  • The dugout A door opens for Jesse Schuurman
  • The dugout Jarvy Jans knocks on the manager's door
  • Boardroom The Roda academy earns its keep
  • Match Nothing left to play for but pride at Roda
88 Edition

The Roda Post

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

22 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 22, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Match

Roda finish in position 14

30 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

The dugout

Jarvy Jans says Roda went back on their word

“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.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Traianos Mokris gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Traianos Mokris has just signed for Roda, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Roda

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.

Match

Roda are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

In brief

87 Edition

The Roda Post

27 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

21 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 21, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

The terraces

Anger at Roda spills outside the ground

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.

Market

Daniël Deen hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koen Jansen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Utrecht take the points off Roda

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Ibrahim Cissoko beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jorrit Smeets

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorrit Smeets, and the manager let it.

In brief

86 Edition

The Roda Post

20 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

20 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.

Match

A hiding for Roda

Beaten 0‑4 by Feyenoord, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Justin Treichel

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim Cissoko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Justin Treichel

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Roda dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

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 Justin Gravenberch left the room before anybody could ask which.

Squad

Roda are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

85 Edition

The Roda Post

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

19 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.55 with 30 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Roda

A 1‑4 beating by PSV was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

7 saves: Justin Treichel was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahim Cissoko 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Ibrahim Cissoko

“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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Roda

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 dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Dario Van Den Buijs'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.

In brief

84 Edition

The Roda Post

6 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

18 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.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko is carrying Roda

29 goals and a season average of 7.53. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

The dugout

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Squad

Michael Breij signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michael Breij commits to Roda for another 3 years.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The goals have deserted Roda

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Roda can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Koen Jansen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Roda come up short against Heerenveen

Heerenveen left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

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 Justin Gravenberch left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

83 Edition

The Roda Post

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

17 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.

The terraces

Anger at Roda spills outside the ground

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.

Squad

8 saves: Justin Treichel was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Daniël Deen puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim Cissoko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Roda cannot find the net

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.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Cissoko beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against Vitesse

0‑1 to Vitesse, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

82 Edition

The Roda Post

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

16 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Nathan Lefebvre gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nathan Lefebvre has just signed for Roda, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ibrahim Cissoko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

AZ take the points off Roda

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jesse Schuurman

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jesse Schuurman, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch 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.

Market

Roda buy the years ahead of Nathan Lefebvre

He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Squad

Roda are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

In brief

81 Edition

The Roda Post

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

15 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koen 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.

Transfer targets

Joppe Hakstege stays at Zwolle as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Roda will try again when the window opens; Zwolle may not be selling by then.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Cissoko beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Mokrane Bentoumi signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mokrane Bentoumi and Roda agree another 4 years.

Squad

Evan Rottier is a square peg at Roda

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Koen Jansen

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Roda told Koen Jansen something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Player ratings

Koen Jansen was the difference for Roda

Marked 7.27. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

80 Edition

The Roda Post

7 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

14 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Ibrahim Cissoko

29 goals and a season average of 7.59 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Both of them Ibrahim Cissoko's — 8.89

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.89, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A move Evan Rottier would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Evan Rottier is living that version at Roda, and it tends to show in the first month.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 4 signed and 12 gone

That is the business done at Roda until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Roda bid $630.0K for Joppe Hakstege

The offer went to Zwolle 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.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Jesse Schuurman is a Roda player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

In brief

79 Edition

The Roda Post

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

13 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Roda board

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.

Squad

Justin Treichel keeps Roda in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Tol 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against Twente

1‑3 to Twente, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Marc Oliver Kempf

Roda asked and Como said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Noah Crabu signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Noah Crabu commits to Roda for another 3 years.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Justin Gravenberch after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

78 Edition

The Roda Post

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Danilo van Roekel asks to leave Roda

“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 ratings

Nobody could get near Ibrahim Cissoko

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koen 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.

The terraces

Roda supporters have found a favourite in Koen Jansen

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Koen Jansen has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Koen Jansen was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.17. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Match

Roda refuse to lose to Zwolle

A point taken on 91 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.

Squad

Lenn Copier signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lenn Copier commits to Roda for another 4 years.

In brief

77 Edition

The Roda Post

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

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.

Market

Mitchell Paulissen asks to leave Roda

“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.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Liam van Nistelrooij rejects the move

Roda had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at PSV, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Koen Jansen beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against NEC

0‑2 to NEC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Jorrit Smeets 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.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Justin Gravenberch after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

76 Edition

The Roda Post

10 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

10 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.60 with 27 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

A brace, and Ibrahim Cissoko takes the afternoon — 8.96

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahim Cissoko provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Joshua Schwirten hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Malek El Mala turns down Roda

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Köln keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Sem Yvel arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Sem Yvel has, at Roda, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Marco Tol 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.

In brief

75 Edition

The Roda Post

3 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Roda 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.

Match

9 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Market

Josh Nisbet asks to leave Roda

“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.

Market

Roda turn down Utrecht for Michael Breij

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko is named among the best

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. Roda will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koen 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Manuel Pagano

Roda asked and Lincoln City 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 dugout

No hiding place for Dario Van Den Buijs

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dario Van Den Buijs, and the manager let it.

In brief

  • Match Heracles take the points off Roda
  • Squad Koen Jansen reaches 100 appearances
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
74 Edition

The Roda Post

27 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko is carrying Roda

25 goals and a season average of 7.59. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Joey Müller hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ibrahim Cissoko

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Roda had all but put away. Willem II will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

The dugout

No hiding place for Toby Januzaj

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Toby Januzaj, and the manager let it.

Match

Roda and Willem II take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

73 Edition

The Roda Post

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Roda

0‑4 against Ajax, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Lucas Beerten puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Justin Treichel stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Inquest at Roda

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Roda

Something was said to Marco Tol and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Jorrit Smeets knocks on the manager’s door
  • The terraces Everybody has an opinion about Justin Treichel
72 Edition

The Roda Post

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Ibrahim Cissoko

24 goals and a season average of 7.59 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Market

Mitchell Paulissen puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Joey Müller

“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 ratings

Koen Jansen runs at them all day

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 ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Ibrahim Cissoko

7.93, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Roda had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

In brief

71 Edition

The Roda Post

6 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Roda 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.

Market

Josh Nisbet hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

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.

The dugout

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Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Marco Tol 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Anthony van den Hurk

“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.

Match

Halfway: Roda sit in position 10

24 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Cissoko was the difference for Roda

Marked 7.44. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

70 Edition

The Roda Post

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Roda

1‑4 against Utrecht, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko is carrying Roda

23 goals and a season average of 7.58. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Market

Joey Müller hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Roda

4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

The dugout

No hiding place for Josh Nisbet

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josh Nisbet, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Anthony van den Hurk did the work nobody counts — 6.57

10 combined actions and 6.57. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

In brief

69 Edition

The Roda Post

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Roda

0‑5 against Feyenoord, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Justin Treichel

There were 9 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.

Market

Lucas Beerten puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Cain Seedorf

“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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Roda

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

The dugout

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 0‑5 defeat, delivered by Justin Gravenberch to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

68 Edition

The Roda Post

15 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The cup run ends for Roda

2‑3 against Feyenoord, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Market

Nick Twisk puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Roda come up short against PSV

PSV left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jorrit Smeets

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jorrit Smeets, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Michael Breij at his very best

Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Roda.

Squad

Mik Vergoossen signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mik Vergoossen and Roda agree another 4 years.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Joshua Schwirten

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • Looking ahead Roda take on the side everybody is chasing
  • Squad Dario Van Den Buijs has to sit this one out
67 Edition

The Roda Post

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Roda board

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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Ibrahim Cissoko

22 goals and a season average of 7.62 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A fracture rules Filip Janssen out for 19 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Roda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Mitchell Paulissen hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

The dugout

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Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Roda find a way past Heerenveen

Heerenveen made Roda work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Josh Nisbet

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Roda told Josh Nisbet something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

66 Edition

The Roda Post

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Ibrahim Cissoko takes the afternoon — 8.87

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahim Cissoko provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Filip Janssen breaks a bone — 26 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.53 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Market

Jesse Schuurman hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

No hiding place for Justin Treichel

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justin Treichel, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Koen Jansen

Marked 8.04 — 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.

Match

Vitesse snatch it back from Roda

A goal on 92 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.

In brief

65 Edition

The Roda Post

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Filip Janssen breaks a bone — 36 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

3 goals for Ibrahim Cissoko

The match ball belongs to Ibrahim Cissoko, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Market

Joshua Schwirten asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

Justin Treichel stands alone

6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Ibrahim Cissoko

17 goals and a season average of 7.47 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The dugout

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Match

Nobody wants to play Roda 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ibrahim Cissoko

Marked 9.86 — 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.

Match

Ibrahim Cissoko the difference as Roda beat AZ

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ibrahim Cissoko. 3‑1 against AZ, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

In brief

  • The dugout A promise honoured at Roda
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Player ratings Michael Breij the provider
64 Edition

The Roda Post

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Lucas Beerten asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

Roda supporters have found a favourite in Koen Jansen

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Koen Jansen has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Roda see off Cambuur

Three points for Roda, 1‑0 the final word against Cambuur in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Lenn Copier stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Lenn Copier and Roda agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

No hiding place for Toby Januzaj

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Toby Januzaj, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Koen Jansen takes the honours

Marked 7.61 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Roda had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Justin Gravenberch kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

63 Edition

The Roda Post

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The terraces

The mood at Roda 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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Ibrahim Cissoko takes the afternoon — 9.21

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahim Cissoko provided it, and the 9.21 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Mitchell Paulissen hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

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Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Ibrahim Cissoko

14 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

The afternoon ran through Michael Breij

Chances created: 16. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Ibrahim Cissoko sends Roda past Excelsior

It finished 2‑0, and it was Ibrahim Cissoko’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Roda.

In brief

62 Edition

The Roda Post

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

A hiding for Roda

Beaten 0‑5 by Twente, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Koen Jansen puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

6 saves: Justin Treichel was the team

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.

Squad

Anthony van den Hurk signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Anthony van den Hurk and Roda agree another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Mitchell Paulissen for 15 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Roda will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

The dugout

Marco Tol 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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Roda

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

61 Edition

The Roda Post

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

4 goals for Ibrahim Cissoko

The match ball belongs to Ibrahim Cissoko, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Match

Roda win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Zwolle will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Market

Joshua Schwirten hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Justin Treichel

There were 6 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.

Player ratings

Cain Seedorf beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Ibrahim Cissoko at his very best

Marked 10.00. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Roda.

Match

Ibrahim Cissoko the difference as Roda beat Zwolle

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ibrahim Cissoko. 4‑2 against Zwolle, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

In brief

60 Edition

The Roda Post

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

8 saves: Justin Treichel was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Lucas Beerten puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Player ratings

Koen Jansen was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Joshua Schwirten has improved at 25, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

The dugout

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Roda come up short against NEC

NEC left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

59 Edition

The Roda Post

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Roda board

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.

Match

Cup progress for Roda

A 1‑0 win over Cambuur, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Seppe Vandenberghe

Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Ibrahim Cissoko scores twice — 9.01

Two goals and a mark of 9.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Mitchell Paulissen puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Koen Jansen is a better footballer than he was

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.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

58 Edition

The Roda Post

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Koen Jansen puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

Roda close the window on a squad of their own making

15 in and 12 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A late step up for Josh Nisbet

At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Roda walk away from Anton Shamin

$110.0K was the most the club would pay and ADO Den Haag were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

Marco Tol 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.

Transfer targets

Ajax tell Roda: Charlie Setford is not for sale

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.

Match

Ibrahim Cissoko’s goal not enough for Roda

Ibrahim Cissoko scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Heracles, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ibrahim Cissoko

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

57 Edition

The Roda Post

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Roda

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Justin Treichel stands alone

9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Market

Marco Tol puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Daniël Deen: 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.” Roda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Roda baulk at the price for Manuel Bahaty

PSV wanted more than $930.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

The step up is real for Finn Ashworth

At 21 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.

Squad

A late step up for Justin Treichel

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

In brief

56 Edition

The Roda Post

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Justin Treichel keeps Roda in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

The drought breaks for Roda

17 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Ajax were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Match

No mercy from Roda

Ajax will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Roda were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

The dugout

Ibrahim Cissoko keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Roda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

A brace, and Ibrahim Cissoko takes the afternoon — 9.58

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahim Cissoko provided it, and the 9.58 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Daniël Deen puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Josh Nisbet goes up and wins it — 7.79

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.79 for the rest of it.

Transfer targets

Roda make their move for Manuel Bahaty

$930.0K on the table at PSV. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

  • Transfer targets An offer of $110.0K for Anton Shamin
  • Squad Words at Roda training over how hard people work
  • Player ratings Ninety minutes of Michael Breij at his very best
55 Edition

The Roda Post

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

17 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.

The terraces

Anger at Roda spills outside the ground

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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Ibrahim Cissoko takes the afternoon — 8.65

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ibrahim Cissoko provided it, and the 8.65 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Mitchell Paulissen hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Real improvement from Koen Jansen at Roda

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Koen Jansen is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Roda

5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

In brief

54 Edition

The Roda Post

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Koen Jansen hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Boardroom

James Rowswell has agreed to leave Roda for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Market

Business is business: Raphael van Geelkerken goes

Excelsior paid $660.0K and Roda took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Squad

Josh Nisbet has improved at 28, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Squad

Jérôme Déom stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Jérôme Déom and Roda agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Transfer targets

Roda rebuffed over Diogo Pinto

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santa Clara have kept their man, and Roda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Looking ahead

Anthony van den Hurk faces his old club

De Graafschap next, and one man in the Roda dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

In brief

53 Edition

The Roda Post

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Every point is an argument now for Roda

Position 18 and 10 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.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Roda boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Market

Marco Tol hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

The terraces

A $2.3M sale, and a town that did not want it

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul has gone, the accounts have $2.3M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.

Market

Business is business: Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul goes

Zwolle paid $2.3M and Roda took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

The dugout

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Squad

Real improvement from Keanu Van Mieghem at Roda

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Keanu Van Mieghem is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

In brief

52 Edition

The Roda Post

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Josh Nisbet puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Marco Tol signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marco Tol and Roda agree another 4 years.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Roda rebuffed over Charlie Setford

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax have kept their man, and Roda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Jarvy Jans pulls a muscle — 14 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

In brief

51 Edition

The Roda Post

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Roda board

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.

Market

Dario Van Den Buijs puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

No deal for Maxence Rivera at that price

Roda offered $2.0M; Heerenveen 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.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Luciano Vietto

Roda asked and Villarreal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Ibrahim Cissoko stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ibrahim Cissoko and Roda agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Josh Nisbet 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.

In brief

50 Edition

The Roda Post

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Excelsior come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Roda did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Nick Twisk puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Roda get their man

The chase for Ibrahim Cissoko ended with $2.3M changing hands and Zwolle out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Transfer targets

Roda make their move for Maxence Rivera

$1.4M on the table at Heerenveen. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A move Danilo van Roekel would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Danilo van Roekel is living that version at Roda, and it tends to show in the first month.

The terraces

The town asked, and Roda paid $2.3M

Ibrahim Cissoko was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $2.3M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.

Transfer targets

Roda rebuffed over Jasper Cillessen

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NEC have kept their man, and Roda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

In brief

49 Edition

The Roda Post

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Every point is an argument now for Roda

Position 18 and 10 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.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Roda

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Roda is running low.

Market

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Ibrahim Cissoko

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Roda have done the hard part with Zwolle, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

The dugout

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Squad

Keanu Van Mieghem is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Late improvement for Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul

At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

48 Edition

The Roda Post

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Lucas Beerten asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

Fynn Schenten is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A late step up for Dario Van Den Buijs

At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Transfer targets

Roda rebuffed over Ante Rebić

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fiorentina have kept their man, and Roda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniël Deen

“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.

Market

The shop window has Dario Van Den Buijs in it

Roda have let the market know Dario Van Den Buijs can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

The dugout

Koen Jansen 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.

In brief

47 Edition

The Roda Post

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Roda spills outside the ground

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.

Market

Josh Nisbet asks to leave Roda

“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.

Transfer targets

Roda agree $1.6M for Marko Pjaca

The clubs have shaken hands with Twente; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Market

Andrew Imade is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Roda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

No thanks: Joe Whitworth rejects the move

Roda had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Wigan Athletic, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Boardroom

Adrian Yanga-M'Boyo has agreed to leave Roda for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

The step up is real for Finn Ashworth

At 21 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

In brief

46 Edition

The Roda Post

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Groningen come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Roda did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Ibrahim Cissoko

Roda and Zwolle have settled on $2.5M. 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.

Market

Joey Müller asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

Real improvement from Koen Jansen at Roda

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Koen Jansen is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Transfer targets

Harold Preciado turns down Roda

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.

Boardroom

Martin Stojcevic signs for Excelsior while still at Roda

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Martin Stojcevic has agreed terms with Excelsior for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A late step up for Justin Treichel

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

In brief

45 Edition

The Roda Post

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Roda are in real trouble now

Position 18, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Roda

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Roda is running low.

Boardroom

Justin Gravenberch has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Roda can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Market

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Joe Whitworth due for a Roda medical

Everything agreed with Wigan Athletic, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Boardroom

Dylano van Niftrik has agreed to leave Roda for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Raphael van Geelkerken is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

44 Edition

The Roda Post

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Lucas Beerten puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

In brief

43 Edition

The Roda Post

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Roda 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.

Market

Josh Nisbet hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniël Deen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

42 Edition

The Roda Post

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Joey Müller puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Andrew Imade is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Roda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Jérôme Déom

“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.

Loan watch

Raphael van Geelkerken counts the days

“I watch every Roda game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Vitesse runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

Koen Jansen knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Roda, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

When it matters, Daniel Lajud plays

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.

The dugout

Daniël Deen has been promised minutes

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 Daniël Deen has written the date down.

In brief

41 Edition

The Roda Post

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Roda are in real trouble now

Position 18, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Koen Jansen knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Roda, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Ilias Takidine gets picked when it counts

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 Ilias Takidine is on it.

In brief

40 Edition

The Roda Post

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Lucas Beerten puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

In brief

39 Edition

The Roda Post

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Roda board

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.

Market

Josh Nisbet puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniël Deen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

38 Edition

The Roda Post

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Tim Köther asks to leave Roda

“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.

Market

Andrew Imade has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Roda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

Jorrit Smeets knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Roda, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Daniel Lajud gets picked when it counts

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 Daniel Lajud is on it.

The dugout

The manager makes Daniël Deen a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Roda. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Market

Joey Müller placed on the list

Roda have made Joey Müller available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

The dugout

Josh Nisbet keeps his manager's vote

The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Josh Nisbet plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.

In brief

37 Edition

The Roda Post

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Roda are in real trouble now

Position 18, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Joey Müller hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul

“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 dugout

Josh Nisbet 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.

Squad

Koen Jansen: “I am not a substitute”

“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Roda will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

The dugout

Ilias Takidine gets picked when it counts

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 Ilias Takidine is on it.

Market

Roda put Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

36 Edition

The Roda Post

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

16 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Match

Roda finish in position 18

10 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Market

Lucas Beerten puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ben Zich stands alone

6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

No hiding place for Justin Treichel

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justin Treichel, and the manager let it.

Match

Groningen take the points off Roda

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Justin Gravenberch after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

35 Edition

The Roda Post

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

15 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Roda board

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.

Market

Josh Nisbet asks to leave Roda

“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 ratings

Filip Janssen, 21, steals the show — 7.81

Marked 7.81 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Roda rescue it on 95 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 95. Utrecht had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Match

Filip Janssen rescues a point for Roda

It needed Filip Janssen to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Utrecht, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

34 Edition

The Roda Post

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

14 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Roda

0‑3 against Feyenoord, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Tim Köther puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Jack Cooper-Love keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Roda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

Roda cannot find the net

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.

Market

Andrew Imade has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Roda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Scott Jr. Calderwood will join Roda for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Scott Jr. Calderwood has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Roda have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

In brief

  • The dugout No hiding place for Marco Tol
  • Squad Justin Treichel reaches 100 appearances
  • Boardroom Nobody left the Roda dressing room in a hurry
33 Edition

The Roda Post

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

13 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Justin Treichel stands alone

11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

Roda sink to position 18

9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Match

A hiding for Roda

Beaten 0‑3 by PSV, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Joey Müller hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Roda

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Koen Jansen stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Koen Jansen and Roda agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

In brief

32 Edition

The Roda Post

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

12 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Market

Lucas Beerten hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Anthony van den Hurk stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Anthony van den Hurk and Roda agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Boardroom

Roda beat the market to Yasser el Aissati from ADO Den Haag

ADO Den Haag will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Yasser el Aissati has pre-agreed a move to Roda, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Match

Roda cannot find the net

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.

Match

Roda come up short against Heerenveen

Heerenveen left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Daniël Deen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniël Deen, and the manager let it.

In brief

31 Edition

The Roda Post

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

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.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Roda board

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.

Match

A hiding for Roda

Beaten 0‑3 by Vitesse, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Market

Josh Nisbet puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Cain Seedorf runs at them all day

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.

The dugout

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news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Mitchell Paulissen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mitchell Paulissen, and the manager let it.

In brief

30 Edition

The Roda Post

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Andrew Imade is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Roda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against AZ

0‑2 to AZ, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Marco Tol 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.

The dugout

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 Justin Gravenberch left the room before anybody could ask which.

Market

Joshua Schwirten is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Roda has been clear about where Joshua Schwirten stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

29 Edition

The Roda Post

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Roda sink to position 18

9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

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.

Market

Tim Köther hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Fynn Schenten at 19 — 7.61

The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Fynn Schenten did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

Roda supporters have found a favourite in Fynn Schenten

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Fynn Schenten has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

The dugout

Nick Twisk 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.

Match

Roda caught on 92 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Cambuur scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

In brief

28 Edition

The Roda Post

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

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.

Market

Joey Müller asks to leave Roda

“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.

The dugout

Ben Zich: 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.” Roda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Transfer targets

Dória turns down Roda

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Juventus keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

James Rowswell gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. James Rowswell has just signed for Roda, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Roda are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Match

Roda come up short against Excelsior

Excelsior left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

27 Edition

The Roda Post

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Lucas Beerten hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Match

7 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Market

Roda say no — this time

The offer from Excelsior for Joshua Schwirten 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.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone

That is the business done at Roda until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Harold Preciado

Roda asked and Inter said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Roda come up short against Twente

Twente left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Justin Treichel 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.

In brief

26 Edition

The Roda Post

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jérôme Déom

18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Roda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Josh Nisbet puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Andrew Imade has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Roda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Boardroom

Roda to lose Andrew Imade for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Andrew Imade has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Match

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul’s goal not enough for Roda

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Zwolle, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ante Rebić

Roda asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

25 Edition

The Roda Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jérôme Déom damages knee ligaments — 25 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.

Match

Roda are in real trouble now

Position 18, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Daniel Lajud hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Match

5 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Hakim Ziyech

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Roda have done the hard part with AC Milan, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Transfer targets

Alfred Duncan turns down Roda

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Venezia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Roda come up short against NEC

NEC left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

24 Edition

The Roda Post

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jérôme Déom

34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Roda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Joey Müller asks to leave Roda

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Roda rebuffed over Dória

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Roda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The terraces

One of their own: Justin Treichel

He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

The dugout

Nick Twisk 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.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Alfred Duncan is in the works

Roda have made the call to Venezia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

23 Edition

The Roda Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jérôme Déom damages knee ligaments — 41 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.

Market

Lucas Beerten asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Roda come up short against Heracles

Heracles left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The terraces

Roda supporters have found a favourite in Koen Jansen

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Koen Jansen has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

The dugout

Marco Tol 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.

Player ratings

Koen Jansen in the eights

A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Justin Gravenberch after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

22 Edition

The Roda Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jérôme Déom

48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Roda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Josh Nisbet puts it in writing

“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 Roda, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Justin Treichel keeps Roda in it on his own

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against Willem II

0‑2 to Willem II, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Daniël Deen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniël Deen, and the manager let it.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Jorrit Smeets

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Roda told Jorrit Smeets something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Justin Gravenberch to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

21 Edition

The Roda Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jérôme Déom

55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Roda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Roda

Position 18 and 7 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.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Roda

0‑3 against Ajax, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

No hiding place for Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul, and the manager let it.

Squad

100 appearances for Lucas Beerten

100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Roda dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Justin Gravenberch to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

20 Edition

The Roda Post

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jérôme Déom

63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Roda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Roda end the wait against De Graafschap

It had gone 18 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Market

Joey Müller asks to leave Roda

“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.

The dugout

Ben Zich: 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.” Roda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Josh Nisbet beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

Anthony van den Hurk the difference as Roda beat De Graafschap

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Anthony van den Hurk. 1‑0 against De Graafschap, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Anthony van den Hurk

7.77, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Roda had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

In brief

19 Edition

The Roda Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

18 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

The knee: Jérôme Déom out for 70 days

70 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Roda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Lucas Beerten hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Justin Treichel keeps Roda in it on his own

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Roda

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Roda can tell you which week it ends in.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against Groningen

0‑2 to Groningen, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Looking ahead

Roda face De Graafschap in the game that matters most

Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.

In brief

  • The dugout No hiding place for Nick Twisk
  • Match Roda at the halfway mark
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
18 Edition

The Roda Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

17 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Jérôme Déom damages knee ligaments — 77 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Justin Treichel

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.

Market

Josh Nisbet hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against Utrecht

0‑2 to Utrecht, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Josh Nisbet

“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 dugout

A promise honoured at Roda

Something was said to Marco Tol and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

17 Edition

The Roda Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Jérôme Déom damages knee ligaments — 85 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.

Match

Roda sink to position 18

4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Justin Treichel

There were 6 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.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Roda come up short against Feyenoord

Feyenoord left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Daniël Deen 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.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch answers for it

“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

16 Edition

The Roda Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

15 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.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jérôme Déom

92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Roda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Justin Treichel

There were 9 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.

Market

Joey Müller asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Roda refuse to lose to PSV

A point taken on 91 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Joshua Schwirten

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joshua Schwirten, and the manager let it.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Roda

Something was said to Mitchell Paulissen and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

15 Edition

The Roda Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Jérôme Déom damages knee ligaments — 99 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.

Market

Lucas Beerten asks to leave Roda

“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 ratings

Michael Breij beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Sohaib Belarbi arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Sohaib Belarbi has, at Roda, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Justin Treichel

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Nick Twisk

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

14 Edition

The Roda Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Jérôme Déom

106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Roda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

13 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Market

Josh Nisbet asks to leave Roda

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marco Tol was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul’s goal not enough for Roda

Rasmus Wiedesheim-Paul scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Vitesse, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Michael Breij

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Lucas Beerten 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.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

13 Edition

The Roda Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Jérôme Déom 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.

Match

No end in sight to Roda's wait for a win

12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Roda has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Roda sink to position 18

2 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Beerten was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Roda count the cost of losing Keanu Van Mieghem

41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

No hiding place for Koen Jansen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Koen Jansen, and the manager let it.

Match

Roda share the spoils with AZ

A 1‑1 draw with AZ leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Justin Gravenberch on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

In brief

12 Edition

The Roda Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Jérôme Déom damages knee ligaments — 122 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 122 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.

Match

11 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Market

Joey Müller hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Roda can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

The step up is real for Justin Treichel

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Roda come up short against Cambuur

Cambuur left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Justin Treichel

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justin Treichel, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Jérôme Déom beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Jorrit Smeets left out for tactical reasons at Roda
  • Looking ahead A reunion for Nick Twisk
11 Edition

The Roda Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

10 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

Roda come up short against Excelsior

Excelsior left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Marco Tol 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.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Koen Jansen dropped after a run of poor form

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 dugout

Koen Jansen knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Koen Jansen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Looking ahead

Marco Tol faces his old club

Cambuur next, and one man in the Roda dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

In brief

10 Edition

The Roda Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

9 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Justin Treichel stands alone

6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Roda against Twente

1‑3 to Twente, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Lucas Beerten

“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 dugout

Justin Gravenberch answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Marco Tol

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 dugout

Marco Tol knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marco Tol trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

9 Edition

The Roda Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

8 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Jérôme Déom was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Roda

7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Joshua Schwirten 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.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Justin Gravenberch 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 dugout

The plan did not have a place for Anthony van den Hurk

Nobody at Roda 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.

Match

Roda and Zwolle cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Zwolle came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

8 Edition

The Roda Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Roda

A 0‑3 beating by NEC was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

Jorrit Smeets 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.

Market

No place for Josh Nisbet in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Josh Nisbet has his answer from Roda; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Roda dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Roda pick somebody else ahead of Marco Tol

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The Roda Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Roda

Beaten 1‑4 by ADO Den Haag, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Match

Roda bow out of the cup

Cambuur go through and Roda go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Squad

7 saves: Justin Treichel was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

The wait goes on for Roda

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.

Player ratings

Ilias Takidine was unplayable

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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 dugout

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Match

Daniel Lajud answers Cambuur immediately

Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Daniel Lajud had Roda level again within 4 minutes, and Cambuur never got to play with a lead at all.

In brief

  • Boardroom Doors closed at Roda
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Anthony van den Hurk knocks on the manager’s door
6 Edition

The Roda Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Justin Treichel

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.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 10 in, 9 out at Roda

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 10 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Match

4 matches without a win for Roda

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Roda are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Jérôme Déom for 14 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Roda will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Damián van der Vaart

Roda asked and Ajax said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Transfer targets

Deadline beats Roda to Zino Sneijer

The clock did what Feyenoord would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

Match

Heracles take the points off Roda

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

5 Edition

The Roda Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Dario Van Den Buijs in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Roda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorrit Smeets 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Emre Ünüvar

Roda asked and Ajax said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Roda come up short against Willem II

Willem II left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jack Cooper-Love

“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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Roda

7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

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 Justin Gravenberch left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Mitchell Paulissen

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.

Player ratings

Jérôme Déom beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

4 Edition

The Roda Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

9 saves: Justin Treichel was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

A falling-out at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Ajax take the points off Roda

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Transfer targets

Roda rebuffed over Carlos López

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Celta have kept their man, and Roda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at Roda training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koen 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.

The dugout

Josh Nisbet 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.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

The dugout

Mitchell Paulissen dropped after a run of poor form

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.

Squad

Fynn Schenten scores his first for Roda

The one goal every signing is asked about until it comes. It has come, and a press-conference question has been retired.

In brief

3 Edition

The Roda Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Words exchanged at Roda

Dario Van Den Buijs 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Roda

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorrit Smeets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Roda come up short against De Graafschap

De Graafschap left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

The formation has left Jorrit Smeets behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Roda will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

The dugout

Justin Gravenberch faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Justin Gravenberch after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Tim Köther 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.

Market

Roda and Nick Twisk are talking past each other

“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.

Player ratings

Koen Jansen was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 13. 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.

Market

No place for Daniel Lajud in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Daniel Lajud has his answer from Roda; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief