26 Sep 2027
Sunday
Process
60 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Lucas Väyrynen says VPS 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.

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

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

Squad

Joona Somppi 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

Joona Somppi 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.

Squad

Joona Somppi: “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 VPS will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

The dugout

Kevin Persson has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

Back issues
59 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Joona Somppi is the real thing at 18

A season average of 6.56 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. VPS know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

The dugout

Joonas Vahtera: 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.” VPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anderson Asiedu 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

When it matters, Simon van Duivenbooden 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

The manager makes an example of Josep Nuorela

“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

The manager has not finished forgetting Paulo Lima'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.

Market

The Simon van Duivenbooden question follows VPS around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Simon van Duivenbooden’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Match

Continental football is in reach for VPS

31 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.

In brief

58 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

RoPS punish VPS for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Wilson Samaké will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at VPS escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Match

Full time on the season at VPS

Position 5 on 31 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Match

The wait goes on for VPS

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.

Squad

Aleksi Piispa keeps VPS 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.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan delivers — 7.88

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan scored, was marked 7.88, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Simon van Duivenbooden

16 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Juhani Lam 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.

The terraces

One of their own: Wilson Samaké

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.

In brief

57 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Aleksi Piispa 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 VPS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Yassin Daoussi runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

The wait goes on for VPS

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.

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

VPS rebuffed over Hubert Charuży

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

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Rasmus Nehrman

“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 VPS

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

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Robin Hradecky chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

In brief

56 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Riku Pohjanpalo is the real thing at 15

A season average of 6.54 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. VPS know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.

The dugout

Miika Niemi: 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.” VPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Juhani Lam

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 7 in, 2 out at VPS

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Transfer targets

Kelwin will not be coming to VPS

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at SJK is saying, and nobody at VPS is enjoying the guessing.

Match

The wait goes on for VPS

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Henri Salomaa 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Denny Pucci

VPS asked and Cittadella 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

VPS come up short against KTP

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

In brief

55 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Miika Niemi 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 VPS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Henri Salomaa out for 30 days

The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Henri Salomaa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Transfer targets

Jewison Bennette will not be coming to VPS

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is saying, and nobody at VPS is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jasper Samooja

VPS asked and Casertana 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

A muscle injury and 15 days out for Miika Niemi

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. VPS will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Match

No time for Inter Turku to settle

The goal that put Inter Turku ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when VPS equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

Transfer targets

VPS ask about Cameron Byrne-Hughes

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

In brief

54 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Onni Granlund out for 14 days

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

Player ratings

Simon van Duivenbooden scores twice — 8.94

Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Aleksi Piispa keeps VPS in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

VPS turn down IA for Jonathan Muzinga

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

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden is carrying VPS

16 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Transfer targets

Baldovino Cimino will not be coming to VPS

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cosenza is saying, and nobody at VPS is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden 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

FF Jaro take the points off VPS

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Osku Maukonen

VPS asked and FC Lahti 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

53 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Onni Granlund damages knee ligaments — 22 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.

Transfer targets

Alexis Kalogeropoulos will not be coming to VPS

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olympiacos is saying, and nobody at VPS is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

IA join the queue for Jonathan Muzinga

Add another name to the list: IA have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jonathan Muzinga. The answer from VPS has not changed — yet.

Transfer targets

VPS rebuffed over Francesco D'Alessio

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

Squad

Words at VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anderson Asiedu 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.

Squad

Lorenzo Beghetto out for 33 days

The medical room confirms 33 days on the sidelines for Lorenzo Beghetto, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Rasmus Nehrman

“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

VPS release $836.3K for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

In brief

52 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Onni Granlund damages knee ligaments — 29 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Simon van Duivenbooden takes the afternoon — 9.07

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Simon van Duivenbooden provided it, and the 9.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Anderson Asiedu pops up at the right end — 7.72

7.72, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

The dugout

Paulo Lima says VPS 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.

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.31 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

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

Match

VPS find a way past HIFK

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

Player ratings

Yassin Daoussi 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.

Transfer targets

VPS rebuffed over Anton Tsarenko

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

In brief

51 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Onni Granlund

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

Squad

3 goals for Simon van Duivenbooden

The match ball belongs to Simon van Duivenbooden, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

The dugout

Akon Kuek says VPS 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.

Squad

Henri Salomaa out for 61 days

The medical room confirms 61 days on the sidelines for Henri Salomaa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

One of those days for Simon van Duivenbooden

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.72, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Simon van Duivenbooden the difference as VPS beat Ilves

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Simon van Duivenbooden. 3‑2 against Ilves, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Transfer targets

Shakhtar tell VPS: Marian Faryna 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

VPS end the wait against Ilves

It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

In brief

50 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

VPS out of the cup

HJK ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Match

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

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Aleksi Piispa 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.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

Player ratings

Nothing got past Emmanuel Okereke

17 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Player ratings

Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan takes the honours

Marked 7.37 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, VPS had the best player on the pitch.

Player ratings

Paulo Lima's mistake decides it

Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at VPS needed to.

The dugout

VPS keep their word to Yassin Daoussi

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

In brief

49 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

7 saves: Aleksi Piispa 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

A falling-out at VPS

Henri Salomaa 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miika Niemi 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

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon VPS had all but put away. SJK will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Emmanuel Okereke'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.

Boardroom

Intake day at the VPS academy

5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.

Match

Jabir Abdihakim Ali rescues a point for VPS

It needed Jabir Abdihakim Ali to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against SJK, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Joonas Vahtera

“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

Robin Hradecky on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Robin Hradecky after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

In brief

48 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Aduana Stars come back empty-handed

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

The dugout

Joonas Vahtera keeps the receipts

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

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

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

Match

VPS come up short against HJK

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

Squad

Anderson Asiedu 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

Robin Hradecky faces the questions

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

The dugout

Paulo Lima 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 form table has caught Miika Niemi

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

Looking ahead

Martti Haukioja goes back to face SJK

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Martti Haukioja’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and VPS needing him to play as if none of it matters.

In brief

47 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Kevin Persson says VPS 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Simon Lindholm

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

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anderson Asiedu 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

Late, late show earns VPS a point

Minute 87, against RoPS, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

The dugout

Miika Niemi 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

Halfway: VPS sit in position 3

19 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.

Match

VPS share the spoils with RoPS

A 2‑2 draw with RoPS leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Squad

Riku Raitala stays put

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

In brief

46 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Simon van Duivenbooden breaks IFK Mariehamn hearts

Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Simon van Duivenbooden scored in the 87th minute, IFK Mariehamn had already begun thinking about the journey home, and VPS took the lot.

Match

VPS are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 18 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Match

VPS make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now VPS have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Henri Salomaa

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Simon van Duivenbooden the difference as VPS beat IFK Mariehamn

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Simon van Duivenbooden. 2‑1 against IFK Mariehamn, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

One of their own: Wilson Samaké

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.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

Player ratings

A masterclass from Simon van Duivenbooden

Marked 8.08 — 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.

In brief

45 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

VPS see off KTP

Three points for VPS, 2‑1 the final word against KTP in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

No hiding place for Aleksi Piispa

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

Player ratings

Simon Lindholm beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. 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 VPS

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

Player ratings

Simon van Duivenbooden was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.09. 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.

Player ratings

The cruellest goal, and it is Yassin Daoussi's

A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and VPS will not try tonight.

Squad

Aleksi Piispa makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Robin Hradecky, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

44 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A day Simon van Duivenbooden will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

One of those days for Simon van Duivenbooden

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Simon van Duivenbooden sends VPS past Inter Turku

It finished 3‑2, and it was Simon van Duivenbooden’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to VPS.

Match

VPS settle it inside twenty minutes

2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Inter Turku spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.

Squad

Words at VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anderson Asiedu 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

Will Wilson 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

Robin Hradecky has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Robin Hradecky on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

Squad

The weekend belonged to Simon van Duivenbooden

Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.

In brief

43 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

Match

VPS come up short against FF Jaro

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

Squad

Jayden Turfkruier reaches 100 appearances

100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

Player ratings

Henri Salomaa runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

Robin Hradecky faces the questions

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

The dugout

A promise honoured at VPS

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kevin Persson

“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

Somebody else is better right now than Miika Niemi

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.

In brief

42 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

VPS march on in the cup

Ilves are out and VPS go through, 3‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

Tijjani Mohammed, 20, steals the show — 8.19

Marked 8.19 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Jayden Turfkruier was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 24. 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 VPS

Henri Salomaa 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.

Match

Whatever happens, VPS do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

The terraces

VPS supporters have found a favourite in Tijjani Mohammed

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Tijjani Mohammed 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

One of those days for Jonathan Muzinga

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Anderson Asiedu 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.

Squad

Wilson Samaké makes it 100

100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

In brief

  • The dugout Rasmus Nehrman gets it from the manager
  • Player ratings Nobody on the pitch touched Martti Haukioja
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
41 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Emmanuel Okereke

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.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Miika Niemi

“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

Simon Lindholm runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Emmanuel Okereke stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.44 on the card, and the VPS support went home talking about one name.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Robin Hradecky was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the VPS dressing room was either.

The dugout

The form table has caught Yassin Daoussi

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

Market

No place for Jayden Turfkruier in the plan

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

In brief

40 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

20 days out for Étienne Camara after a fracture

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miika Niemi 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.

Player ratings

Simon van Duivenbooden was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.09. 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

VPS refuse to lose to Ilves

A point taken on 90 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 Yassin Daoussi

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

Match

VPS and Ilves take a point apiece

It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Étienne Camara: “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 VPS will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

Market

Joonas Vahtera told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Joonas Vahtera has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at VPS.

In brief

39 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

27 days out for Étienne Camara after a fracture

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

Match

No mercy from VPS

FC Lahti will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. VPS were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

Jabir Abdihakim Ali takes the match ball home

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

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Jabir Abdihakim Ali in the eights

A performance of 9.66 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Simon van Duivenbooden in the eights

A performance of 9.41 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Anderson Asiedu 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 view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Robin Hradecky, on a 4‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kevin Persson

“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 VPS Chronicle

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Étienne Camara out for 34 days

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

The dugout

Kevin Persson keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Jabir Abdihakim Ali the difference as VPS beat SJK

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jabir Abdihakim Ali. 2‑1 against SJK, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Jabir Abdihakim Ali in the eights

A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

Robin Hradecky has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Robin Hradecky on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

The dugout

Étienne Camara 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 Étienne Camara trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Miika Niemi

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.

Squad

Rasmus Nehrman has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and VPS will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

In brief

37 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Matti Toivio damages knee ligaments — 18 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

The dugout

Étienne Camara keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS

2 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

A row about effort at VPS

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

Market

One of our own: Riku Pukki joins the VPS first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Riku Pukki is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Mikael Hoskonen steps up from the VPS academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mikael Hoskonen has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Match

HJK take the points off VPS

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Miika Niemi

“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

36 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Matti Toivio out for 25 days

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

Boardroom

Window shuts: 3 in, 1 out at VPS

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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

Étienne Camara 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

Arda tell VPS: Preslav Bachev 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

Rasmus Nehrman 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.

Squad

Simon Lindholm is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Simon Lindholm has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

The dugout

Josep Nuorela 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 Josep Nuorela is on it.

The dugout

A door opens for Anderson Asiedu

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.

In brief

35 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Matti Toivio out for 32 days

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

Transfer targets

Bruno Mišura will not be coming to VPS

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Hajduk Split is saying, and nobody at VPS is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Henri Salomaa 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 VPS

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

Transfer targets

Door shut on Mustapha Jah

VPS asked and Floriana 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

The manager makes an example of Kevin Persson

“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

A loan move for Preslav Bachev is in the works

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

Transfer targets

VPS try to borrow Martin James

Köln 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.

The dugout

When it matters, Jonathan Muzinga 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.

In brief

34 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Matti Toivio damages knee ligaments — 39 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 39 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

Words exchanged at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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 El Mehdi Maouhoub

VPS asked and Zenit 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

The manager makes an example of Simon van Duivenbooden

“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

Jayden Turfkruier signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jayden Turfkruier commits to VPS for another 4 years.

In brief

33 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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

Étienne Camara 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 Banou Cissé

VPS asked and FH 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

The manager makes an example of Antti-Ville Räisänen

“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

VPS ask about Ilya Gubarevich

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

Squad

“I want to play”: Rasmus Nehrman speaks

“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.

The dugout

Akon Kuek has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS 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.

Squad

Étienne Camara still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at VPS would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

The dugout

A door opens for Anderson Asiedu

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.

In brief

32 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 20 days

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

Transfer targets

Leo Östman is a medical away from VPS

The deal with IF Elfsborg is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Úlfur Ágúst Björnsson rejects the move

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

Squad

Anderson Asiedu stays put

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

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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

Étienne Camara 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 Shina Ayodele

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

Market

Oliver Forss steps up from the VPS academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oliver Forss has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Nikolai Hakola joins the VPS first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nikolai Hakola is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

31 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jayden Turfkruier breaks a bone — 29 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Kevin Persson asks to leave VPS

“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

Home is on Anderson Asiedu's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; VPS are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS

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

Transfer targets

Door shut on Leonardo Consiglio

VPS asked and Modena 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

Kevin Persson 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 Martin Henrion is in the works

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

Market

VPS and Rasmus Nehrman 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.

In brief

30 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 37 days

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

Transfer targets

Kauê Rodrigues turns down VPS

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

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Étienne Camara 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 Tommaso Ghirardello

VPS asked and Gubbio 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 Miika Niemi

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

Transfer targets

VPS try to borrow Úlfur Ágúst Björnsson

FH 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.

The dugout

Jayden Turfkruier 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 Jayden Turfkruier is on it.

The dugout

Anderson Asiedu 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 Anderson Asiedu has written the date down.

In brief

29 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jayden Turfkruier breaks a bone — 44 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

KuPS come back empty-handed

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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

Zenit tell VPS: El Mehdi Maouhoub 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

The manager makes an example of Jabir Abdihakim Ali

“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

A loan move for Leonardo Consiglio is in the works

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

Transfer targets

VPS try to borrow Otis Caporusso

OGC Nice 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.

The dugout

Akon Kuek has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

28 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 51 days

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

Market

VPS turn down Aduana Stars for Anderson Asiedu

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

Squad

Anderson Asiedu 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

VPS sell Olavi Keturi for $110.0K

Olavi Keturi has left for HIFK in a $110.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

Transfer targets

VPS rebuffed over Luigi Caccavo

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

Market

One of our own: Jasse Hoskonen joins the VPS first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jasse Hoskonen is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

The dugout

Rasmus Nehrman 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

VPS ask about Leo Östman

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

In brief

27 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 58 days

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

Market

Kevin Persson asks to leave VPS

“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

Rasmus Nehrman: 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.” VPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Aduana Stars join the queue for Anderson Asiedu

Add another name to the list: Aduana Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anderson Asiedu. The answer from VPS has not changed — yet.

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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

Kevin Persson 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

Jonathan Muzinga has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS 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.

Squad

A season on the outside for Anderson Asiedu

He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at VPS has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.

In brief

26 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

66 days out for Jayden Turfkruier after a fracture

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

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

The dugout

When it matters, Jayden Turfkruier 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

Antti-Ville Räisänen 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 Antti-Ville Räisänen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

A door opens for Kevin Persson

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.

In brief

25 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 73 days

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miika Niemi 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

Akon Kuek 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

Akon Kuek has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS 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

Antti-Ville Räisänen 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 Antti-Ville Räisänen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

24 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 80 days

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

Squad

Henri Salomaa signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Henri Salomaa commits to VPS for another 4 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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.

Market

One of our own: Daniel Arajuuri joins the VPS first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Arajuuri is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Miika Niemi

“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

23 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 88 days

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

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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 Jabir Abdihakim Ali

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

Market

VPS and Rasmus Nehrman 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.

Squad

A promotion for Henri Salomaa

Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Henri Salomaa has moved up it.

In brief

22 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

95 days out for Jayden Turfkruier after a fracture

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

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Will Wilson signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Will Wilson commits to VPS for another 3 years.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kevin Persson

“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

Words at VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miika Niemi 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

Jayden Turfkruier 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 Jayden Turfkruier is on it.

In brief

21 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jayden Turfkruier breaks a bone — 104 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

Squad

Henri Salomaa 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Akon Kuek has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS 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

Jabir Abdihakim Ali 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.

The dugout

The manager makes Anderson Asiedu a promise

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

In brief

20 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jayden Turfkruier out for 112 days

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

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Anderson Asiedu 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.

Squad

Paulo Lima 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

Josep Nuorela 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 Josep Nuorela is on it.

The dugout

Rasmus Nehrman 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 Rasmus Nehrman trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

19 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Antti-Ville Räisänen keeps the receipts

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

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

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

Squad

Simon van Duivenbooden 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.

Squad

Alex Myntti signs on for more

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

The dugout

Joonas Vahtera 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

Anderson Asiedu 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 Anderson Asiedu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

18 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

The dugout

Kevin Persson 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

Jayden Turfkruier has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS 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

Antti-Ville Räisänen 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 VPS, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

A door opens for Anderson Asiedu

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.

In brief

17 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Mamadou Jalloh keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS

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

The dugout

When it matters, Akon Kuek 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.

Market

VPS and Jayden Turfkruier 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.

The dugout

A door opens for Kevin Persson

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.

In brief

16 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Akon Kuek says VPS 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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

Étienne Camara 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

Miika Niemi 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

Josep Nuorela 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 Josep Nuorela is on it.

Squad

Akon Kuek wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and VPS will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

In brief

15 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Jabir Abdihakim Ali: 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.” VPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anderson Asiedu 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.

Market

Saku Ojala steps up from the VPS academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saku Ojala has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad

Akon Kuek signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Akon Kuek and VPS agree another 3 years.

The dugout

Jonathan Muzinga 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 Jonathan Muzinga is on it.

The dugout

Miika Niemi 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 Miika Niemi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Simon van Duivenbooden talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. VPS know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Talks stall between VPS and Akon Kuek

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief

14 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Anderson Asiedu 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 VPS

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

The dugout

Kevin Persson 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.

Squad

Akon Kuek stays put

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

Market

Still no ink between VPS and Rasmus Nehrman

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at VPS, another week without a signature from Rasmus Nehrman.

Squad

A step back for Olavi Keturi at VPS

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

In brief

13 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

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

Squad

Étienne Camara 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.

Squad

VPS are still strangers to each other

14 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

Anderson Asiedu 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 Anderson Asiedu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Paulo Lima

“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

When it matters, Akon Kuek 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.

In brief

12 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Paulo Lima: 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.” VPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS

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

The dugout

No hiding place for Miika Niemi

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

The dugout

Anderson Asiedu 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 Anderson Asiedu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Josep Nuorela has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

11 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Akon Kuek has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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.

Market

VPS promote Rasmus Joronen from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rasmus Joronen has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Loan watch

Olavi Keturi counts the days

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

The dugout

Jonathan Muzinga 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 Jonathan Muzinga is on it.

The dugout

Antti-Ville Räisänen 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 Antti-Ville Räisänen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Simon van Duivenbooden talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. VPS know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Kevin Persson 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 Kevin Persson has written the date down.

In brief

10 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 89% of everything VPS earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

The dugout

Jayden Turfkruier has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at VPS 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

Kevin Persson 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 Kevin Persson has written the date down.

Market

Yassin Daoussi linked with a move away

The name of Yassin Daoussi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. VPS say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

9 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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 Kevin Persson

“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

14 new faces, and VPS are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout

Akon Kuek 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 Akon Kuek is on it.

The dugout

Miika Niemi 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

8 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Miika Niemi says VPS 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Étienne Camara 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 Rasmus Nehrman

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

Squad

Rasmus Nehrman: “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 VPS will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

The dugout

When it matters, Josep Nuorela 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

Jabir Abdihakim Ali 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 Jabir Abdihakim Ali trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The clock does Akon Kuek’s negotiating for him

2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee VPS could ask drops and the wages Akon Kuek can ask rise.

Market

The Jonathan Muzinga story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jonathan Muzinga signs something — a contract at VPS or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

7 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Akon Kuek has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Anderson Asiedu 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 VPS

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

Market

VPS promote Lassi Soiri from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lassi Soiri has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

VPS promote Jasse Joronen from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jasse Joronen has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Squad

Étienne Camara has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and VPS will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

The dugout

Josep Nuorela 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

When it matters, Jonathan Muzinga 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

Jabir Abdihakim Ali 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

6 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Jayden Turfkruier was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 38. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Squad

Emmanuel Okereke 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anderson Asiedu 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

VPS find a way past RoPS

RoPS made VPS work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

One of those days for Jonathan Muzinga

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Miika Niemi 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.

Squad

This league is too small for Étienne Camara

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. VPS will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Squad

Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kevin Kouassivi-Benissan has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Robin Hradecky, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

5 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Terms done: Anderson Asiedu is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aduana Stars waiting with a shirt. Nobody at VPS is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Player ratings

Jayden Turfkruier beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Ludogorets come back empty-handed

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

Squad

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Anderson Asiedu 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.

Squad

Words at VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rasmus Nehrman 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.

Squad

14 new faces, and VPS are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Match

Simon van Duivenbooden rescues a point for VPS

It needed Simon van Duivenbooden to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against IFK Mariehamn, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

Juhani Lam stays put

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

In brief

4 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

No mercy from VPS

KTP will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. VPS were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Match

VPS out of the cup

KuPS ended it 0‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Both of them Jabir Abdihakim Ali's — 9.64

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.64, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Not going: Jonathan Muzinga stays at VPS

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Falkenberg had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

The terraces

VPS are taken apart by KuPS — and the town wants answers

It finished 0-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.

Squad

6 saves: Aleksi Piispa 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.

Player ratings

Yassin Daoussi was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Market

Eyes on Anderson Asiedu again

The phone has started ringing about Anderson Asiedu again, and this time the name on the line is Aduana Stars. VPS are listening politely and promising nothing.

Transfer targets

Étienne Camara due for a VPS medical

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

In brief

3 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Jonathan Muzinga sends VPS through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Jonathan Muzinga obliged against FC Lahti. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is VPS.

Market

Akon Kuek has one foot out of the door

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

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 18 signed and 1 gone

That is the business done at VPS 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.

Player ratings

Jayden Turfkruier scored one and made one — 7.96

Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.96, and 3 involvements.

Squad

A falling-out at VPS

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

Transfer targets

VPS baulk at the price for Brooklyn Lyons-Foster

HJK wanted more than $85.0K 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 VPS

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

Transfer targets

Door shut on Anton Logi Lúðvíksson

VPS asked and Breidablik 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Jonathan Muzinga

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.

In brief

2 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

A 2-goal lead gone for VPS

It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. FF Jaro kept coming because nothing stopped them, and VPS will be asked about the last half hour all week.

Transfer targets

VPS make their move for Brooklyn Lyons-Foster

$85.0K on the table at HJK. 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

Tempers go at VPS

Martti Haukioja 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

An offer of $38.0K for Aniis Machaal

VPS have gone to SJK with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

A row about effort at VPS

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

Transfer targets

HJK tell VPS: Ville Tikkanen 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 terraces

VPS supporters have found a favourite in Jayden Turfkruier

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jayden Turfkruier 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.

Market

VPS promote Riku Pohjanpalo from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Riku Pohjanpalo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

One of our own: Jasse Sparv joins the VPS first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jasse Sparv is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

1 Edition

The VPS Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for VPS

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

Squad

7 saves: Aleksi Piispa 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.

Player ratings

Yassin Daoussi beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Martti Haukioja stays put

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

Squad

Martti Haukioja 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 VPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Olavi Keturi attracts admirers

The name of Olavi Keturi has come up in conversations VPS were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Words at VPS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jabir Abdihakim Ali 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 Will Wilson

“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 VPS 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.

In brief