Ernie Allan Takes On 'The Dutch Challenge'

[FM_TNSSO]

Really good job being in 2nd after just 2 seasons mate, hopefully your finances will improve now! How do the Champions League spots work in the Eredivisie, is it the top 2 teams who make it to the group stage? Surely some Champions League money next season would help!

Cheers mate....I've had an incredible season and I can't quite believe it. Unfortunately not....where Dutch football has dropped off the radar a little, the top team doesn't even go straight into the groups anymore. 1st will play playoffs, whilst 2nd goes into best placed 2nd qualifying phase! Only guarantee into a group stage is 3rd will enter the Europa League groups without requiring a qualification game first. Then two other clubs will enter the qualifying stages for the Europa League. They do a weird thing in Holland as well where 4th to 7th all play a European playoff at the end of the season to see who qualifies for Europa League too! See below.....

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[Linecoigne1998]

Cheers mate....I've had an incredible season and I can't quite believe it. Unfortunately not....where Dutch football has dropped off the radar a little, the top team doesn't even go straight into the groups anymore. 1st will play playoffs, whilst 2nd goes into best placed 2nd qualifying phase! Only guarantee into a group stage is 3rd will enter the Europa League groups without requiring a qualification game first. Then two other clubs will enter the qualifying stages for the Europa League. They do a weird thing in Holland as well where 4th to 7th all play a European playoff at the end of the season to see who qualifies for Europa League too! See below.....

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Hahah wow I had no idea it was that different from other leagues! That 4th to 7th playoff is really odd for sure. If you finish 2nd at least you'll get some time in the Champions League though! Surely you can make it to the groups from there with some good summer signings KIU

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Hahah wow I had no idea it was that different from other leagues! That 4th to 7th playoff is really odd for sure. If you finish 2nd at least you'll get some time in the Champions League though! Surely you can make it to the groups from there with some good summer signings KIU

I think even if you fail in the qualification rounds for the Champs League, you should still have the backup of going into the Europa anyway. So either way, I should be looking at some European football next season which I never expected as early as season 3!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

May 2019

"A youngster at Chelsea, Ben Sahar was tipped as a hot propect for the future. However, his career didn't quite take off as expected. He signed for Willem II in July 2014 on a 1 year deal with the option of a further year. He scored 7 goals that season, but the club decided not to keep him on"


May 2019

As I am invited to cast my vote for the Young Player of the Year award, I’m delighted to see Dan Crowley has made the shortlist. I was allowed to vote for my own player so naturally my top three votes went to Dan Crowley, Taiwo Awoniyi and Justin Kluivert.

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It’s Feyenoord who lift the Dutch Cup after beating our rivals NAC Breda in the final, very easily with a 4-0 win! PSV were classed as the biggest underachievers after crashing out to Telstar in the 2nd​ round! Damil Dankerlui is recognised as the player who achieved the highest amount of assists in the competition with 6….not bad considering we only played 4 games!

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My Reserves have had a good season, winning their respective league and gaining promotion to the highest reserve league in Holland.

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Sunday 12th​ May 2019
Willem II vs ADO Den Haag
Formation: 3-3-2-2 (Changed to 3-2-2-3 at half time)
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman (Montoro 49), Peters, Chiosa, Dankerlui, Heerkens (Sol 45), Tsimikas, Crowley (Majetschak 49), van Ooijen, Dadachov, Puscas

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A game of 2 completely different halves. We were absolutely ******* terrible in the 1st​ half and found ourselves 3-0 down at half time! However, with a massive boot up the **** and a change of formation and mentality at the break, we managed to fight our way back into the game and amazingly rescue a point by the end! I’m not sure whether to be delighted that we got something out of the game, or mortified at the 1st​ half performance?!



Sunday 19th​ May 2019
AZ Alkmaar vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro (Lachman 61), Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens (Grimm 35), Tsimikas, Crowley (Majetschak 61), van Ooijen, Dadachov, Sol

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Only a win would have secured us top 3 in the league for definite, but it wasn’t to be as we laboured to a 2-2 draw. Yes we showed good character to come back twice to level the scores, but it’s a disappointing result considering what was at stake.



The final league table of the season gives me mixed emotions. Two games ago we were 2nd​, so I’m gutted to drop down to 4th​ after failing to win either of our last two matches. On the flip side, I never would have imagined we would have finished 4th​ at the start of the campaign so I have to be delighted with that! FC Twente leapfrogged us on the final day of the season to nick the Europa League spot, which means we will now have to compete in the European Qualification playoffs with Vitesse, PSV and sc Heerenveen.

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Looking at our progress over the season, we were never outside of the top 10 all year which is a huge achievement in itself! But for majority of the season, we were actually involved in the top 4….never quite reaching top of the league status, but spending a few weeks at 2nd​ and 3rd​ before ultimately dropping to 4th​ on the final day.

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After finishing 4th​ in the league, we draw 7th​ placed sc Heerenveen in the European Places Playoff First Round. The tie will be played over two legs. I wonder if the media have jinxed us after pointing out that we haven’t lost to Heerenveen in our last 4 meetings.

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Thursday 23rd​ May 2019
Eredivisie European Places Playoff 1st​ Round 1st​ Leg
Willem II vs sc Heerenveen
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Montoro, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm (Sent off 81), Tsimikas (Wijnaldum 64), Majetschak (Crowley 79), van Ooijen, Dadachov (Puscas 73), Sol

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Advantage us after the first leg, although I’d have liked to have won by more than the 1 goal. We definitely had a couple of very good chances that were squandered by Fran Sol who could and should have had a hat trick in this game!



Sunday 26th​ May 2019
Eredivisie European Places Playoff 1st​ Round 2nd​ Leg
Sc Heerenveen vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman (Plat 69), Montoro, Chiosa, Lewis, Chirivella, Tsimikas, Majetschak, van Ooijen, Dadachov, Sol (Puscas 64)

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Defensively we were poor in this match and every time Heerenveen entered our half, they looked like scoring! However, our attacking play was on point, and although we conceded 3 goals, we managed to bang in 3 of our own to win the tie 4-3 on aggregate! Antonio Montoro picked up his first goal for the club when he scrambled over the line for the opening goal of the game.



PSV overcame Vitesse over two legs in the other tie, so it’s them that I will meet in the Playoff Places Second Round. Now, looking back to last season, both teams that made this stage went into the Europa League qualifying rounds for this season, and I think that was because PSV (who’d already qualified for a European competition via their league position) won the Dutch Cup. So if I’m right, with Feyenoord winning this year’s Dutch Cup and having already qualified for Europe by finishing 2nd​ in the league, both PSV and us should both progress to the Europa League qualifies next season whatever the result……but I don’t want to take it for granted and will obviously still be trying to win this game over two legs. Saying that, I’ve played PSV 4 times, lost 2 and drawn 2…..won 0!

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Thursday 30th​ May 2019
Eredivisie European Places Playoff 2nd​ Round 1st​ Leg
Willem II vs PSV
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm, Tsimikas, Majetschak, van Ooijen (Chirivella 69), Dadachov, Sol (Puscas 69)

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A close fought game that could have been nicked by either side in all honesty. But again, it was us that were on the wrong side of the result against PSV as they were the ones who managed to find the breakthrough and get the one goal that was enough to win the game.



Player of the Month
Fernando Lewis

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Fernando Lewis has been the most consistent player across this month’s games. Lewis has a good pass ratio as well as completing majority of his tackles too. He loves a dribble, makes plenty of interceptions and can also win his share of headers. He really is an all-round good player in this league.



We’ll have one game to play before the season comes to an end for us. That will be the 2nd​ leg against PSV on 2nd​ June!

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[FM_TNSSO]

June 2019

"Kevin Bobson was a Dutch winger who player over 100 games for
Willem II from 2004-2008, scoring 15 goals"


June 2019

Sunday 2nd​ June 2019
Eredivisie European Places Playoff 2nd​ Round 2nd​ Leg
PSV vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm (Chirivella 97), Tsimikas, Majetschak, van Ooijen (Crowley 71), Dadachov (Sol 71), Puscas

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Well we made a ****** good go of it! We won the game 1-0 in 90 minutes, in 120 minutes even….which took it on to penalties! But PSV had the last laugh on the day as they win the shootout with 5 perfect penalties, whilst we miss just the one. After the game, there was still no word as to whether we had qualified for Europe next season or not…



Apparently, I’m one of the favourites to pick up the Manager of the Year award.

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The board set next year’s budgets. I’ll have just over £200,000 to spend on new players and the wage budget has been raised to £77k. We’re currently only spending £61k per week, so I’ve got a bit to play with here.

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The commercial summary is sent through and makes for fine reading with everything on the up except for competition prize money, but I think that’s only because I haven’t had my payout for final placings in the league campaign yet.

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And a couple of days later, the prize money comes through. For finishing 4th​ this season, we’ll be awarded over £5.5 million, which takes the finances to a pretty healthy position.

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Immediately, I get the board to spend a large chunk of that money on another upgrade to the club’s youth facilities!

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As all the season’s playoffs (both European and relegation) have now come to an end, the top goalscorer is announced. George Puscas finished in 3rd​ place with 16 goals! I tried to renew his loan deal again for next season, but the player rejected us feeling he needs to play at a higher level.

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It’s Justin Kluivert of Ajax that picks up the young player of the year award, whilst Ajax’s manager Erik ten Hag wins the Manager’s award. I finished a respectable runner up!

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Then it was time for our club awards and first we take a look at the overall best 11. Peter van Ooijen, Marco Chiosa and Jeremy Grimm all make the first 11, after good seasons!

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Renat Dadachov is the big winner on awards night as he picks up the fan’s player of the year (with nearly half the vote) as well as the young player of the season! Peter van Ooijen wins the signing of the season!

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Manager’s Player of the Season
George Puscas

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My award has to go to on loan striker George Puscas. He’s been fantastic for us and was a huge part of our success this season, bagging 21 goals and 7 assists in all competitions! He had some injuries and without those, I think he would have finished up top goalscorer in the league. It’s such a shame I couldn’t convince him to stay on with us next year!



Looking over the whole squad, there were plenty of players that had a good season this year with some high average ratings about 7.00 recorded. Marco Chiosa was virtually ever present and made the most appearances for the club with 42. His fellow centre backs Darryl Lachman and Jordens Peters were next with 39 and 37 appearances each. Puscas led the goalscoring charts with 21 in all competitions, whilst Dadachov and Sol weighed in with double figure tallys as well. The wing back roles were key in creating our goals, with a combined 25 assists coming from Fernando Lewis, Damil Dankerlui and Kostas Tsimikas. Renat Dadachov found himself way out in front with the most man of the match awards (7).

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As the media review our season, its pretty clear that everyone is impressed with our campaign.

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The board are delighted with my performance as manager.

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I’ve agreed a deal for my first Summer signing of the year. Henk Veerman will join us on a free transfer from Eredivisie side sc Heerenveen. The 28 year old powerful striker scored 7 goals in 16 senior appearances for them last year and I genuinely think he can do a job for us next year.

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Veerman is quickly followed by my second free transfer signing. 22 year old English midfielder Charlie Colkett will join us from Chelsea! Colkett has spent the season on loan with Vitesse, although he only made 4 appearances for them in the league. I’m surprised they didn’t utilise him more as he looks like a pretty tasty player for this league and I’m hoping he can show what he can do for us next year.

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A total of 11 players are released from the club as their contracts come to an end. The most notable are Elmo Lieftink and Omar Boulamhayan who both made first team appearances for me over the past couple of seasons.

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[FM_TNSSO]

July 2019

"Before me, the last non-Dutch manager to take the reigns at Willem II was Scotsman
Jimmy Calderwood who was in charge for the 1996-97 season. The club finished 15th in the
Eredivisie that season, just avoiding relegation"


July 2019

I kick off July by rejecting an offer of over £400k from sc Heerenveen for defensive midfielder Freek Heerkens. He is a first team regular for me and there is no way I would let him go for such a low fee.

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We’re still ranked 12th​ in the Dutch club rankings, despite my excellent season last year. Ajax are still number one, with PSV and Feyenoord retaining 2nd​ and 3rd​ spots also. Vitesse have leapfrogged AZ into 4th​ place.

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The fixture list for the new season is released and we’ll kick off with a home game against FC Utrecht. Our rival game with NAC will come only 3 games in and our first game against the big three will be away at Feyenoord in mid September. March 2020 will be a tough month as we’ll take on Vitesse, Ajax and PSV within 4 games of one another.

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We’ll pick up just shy of £2 million in TV rights over the coming season.

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As I did last year, I look to our senior affiliate Inter Milan to see who’s available for loan. I am pleased to welcome 18 year old centre back Flor Van Den Eynden to the club for this year’s campaign as he joins on a season long loan. Van Den Eynden is a pacey centre back with very high determination. His positioning, marking and heading stats are all very high and he is sure to get some good playing time with us this year to aid his development.

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Van Den Eynden is quickly followed into the club by one of his team members, Nicolo Zaniolo, who also joins us on a 1 year loan deal from Inter. Zaniolo is a 20 year old Italian central midfielder who is an all rounder with good stats in all areas. Again, another player that is sure to get plenty of game time with us this season and has the ability to make a real impact in Holland as well!

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I tried to keep Kostas Tsimikas here on loan for a 3rd​ season but Olympiakos refused the move as they want to give him a chance in their first team, which doesn’t surprise me as he’s been pretty impressive for us. This only left me with Giliano Wijnaldum as a recognised left wing back and seeing as he has a habit for getting sent off (3 times last season), I felt I needed another player who could play that role. After a lot of searching, I’ve found a player I really like the look of in Erdin Demir who joins us from Belgian Pro League A club, Waasland-Beveren, where he has spent the past 4 seasons, making over 130 appearances. He’s got some good defensive stats, but what really caught my eye was his pace going forward and ability to ping a good cross into the box. To be able to afford the £650k fee for him, I had to spread the payments so we’ll fork out £200k up front, plus £450k over two 12 monthly instalments. The fee may rise to £850k depending on performance bonuses.

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So we finally get some news on the Europa League qualification (that I thought I might have been eligible for following last season’s playoffs). So it looks like what’s happened is that I’ll be entering the competition at the 2nd​ Qualifying Round, whilst PSV who beat us in the Playoff final will enter the competition in the 3rd​ Qualifying Round. Anyway, the draw has been done and we’ll play Croatian side Slaven Belupo in the 2nd​ Qualifying Round, with both legs due to be played before our season begins.

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Before the Europa League qualifying campaign kicked off, we played 3 friendlies in order to get the lads warmed up. We played a couple of smaller sides in Holland as well as inviting Aston Villa over from England for a friendly. I played a whole range of players in the 3 friendlies, trying to get a look at all my players to decide who deserves a starting spot in the Europa League game, including a couple of my youngsters from the U19s squad. The friendlies went OK with 2 wins and a draw and it was pleasing that we didn’t concede a single goal.

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Jeremy Grimm was one of our best players last season, scrapping throughout for the defensive midfield role with Freek Heerkens. Unfortunately, he is going to miss the first couple of months of this season after picking up a hip injury during training.

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Thursday 25th​ July 2019
Europa League 2nd​ Qualifying Round 1st​ LegWillem II vs Slaven Belupo
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Lachman 21), Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, Colkett, Veerman, Sol

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My first ever venture into European football is a good one. We were pretty dominant throughout in this game, bagged a couple of goals and kept a clean sheet. Half way there and now to just do a sensible job in Croatia for the 2nd​ leg.



A number of players made their competitive debuts for the club in the game against Slaven Belupo. Henk Veerman was the pick of the bunch as he scored two goals! One was a powerful close range effort and the other was a tidy header into the top corner.

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There was one piece of bad news from the Belupo game….Fernando Lewis will miss up to a month of action after he limped off with injury.

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After failing to keep George Puscas or Renat Dadachov here for another season on loan, I desperately needed to add another striker to the squad. After spending majority of my transfer budget on Erdin Demir, I turned to the loan market and have managed to pick up a pretty good little striker for the season. Please welcome Cedric Teuchert who joins us from German side Gelsenkirchen. The 22 year old German adds some much needed pace to the front line, has good finishing and composure stats and certainly has the ability to bag some goals for us this year. I’m really pleased to have snapped him up!

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Looking ahead to August, we’ll kick off the month with the 2nd​ leg against Slaven Belupo. The Eredivisie campaign will also kick off with 3 games scheduled although this may be subject to change if we progress in the Europa League as I’m sure we’ll have another qualifying round to play.

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[ninjaskill]

Some really good progress being made, hopefully you can keep up the good work in the league and have a decent run in Europe.

Also the fact that your reserve team isn't called Willem II II is a missed opportunity I feel

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Some really good progress being made, hopefully you can keep up the good work in the league and have a decent run in Europe.

Also the fact that your reserve team isn't called Willem II II is a missed opportunity I feel

Cheers mate, unfortunately Europe has come to an end already (as you'll see in the next update). So all my attention will be on the league to see if we can have another stormer of a season like last year! If we can avoid the big boys, there's no reason why we can't make at least the semis of the Dutch Cup as well.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

August 2019

"In our last 50 games, we have scored a total of 88 goals. 19 of these have been scored between the 31st and 45th minute"


August 2019

Thursday 1st​ August 2019
Europa League 2nd​ Qualifying Round 2nd​ Leg
Slaven Belupo vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Dankerlui, Heerkens, Demir (Wijnaldum 64), Zaniolo (Crowley 64), Colkett, Veerman, Sol (Davids 85)

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The early goal from Fran Sol meant that with the away goals rule in place, Slaven Belupo would now need 4 goals to beat us and progress. Basically, within 3 minutes, we had put ourselves in complete control of the tie! Although we went on to lose the game 3-2, we were never in any real danger of losing the tie and will progress to the 3rd​ qualifying round.



We were a non seeded side for the 3rd​ qualifying round and there were some big names that we could have come up against including the likes of RBL, Leicester City, Basel and Sparta Prague. And we were unlucky enough to draw one of those…..we’re off to Switzerland to play Basel! To put it in perspective of the difference in size, our club is valued around the £13 million mark, whilst Basel are worth over £70 million. Our highest valued player is Fran Sol at around £3 million, whilst Basel have 10 players valued at over £4 million! There’s no doubt about it, this will be a tough tie for us!

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Thursday 8th​ August 2019
Europa League 3rd​ Qualifying Round 1st​ Leg
Willem II vs Basel
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Dankerlui, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, Colkett (van Ooijen 82), Veerman (Teuchert 82), Sol

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A respectable draw at home, but I fear it may not be enough with the away leg still to come. I really felt that if we were going to have a chance of progressing, we needed to keep a clean sheet here. Still, we’ll give it a ****** good go in Switzerland, with the first thing on the agenda being a goal…..we must now score out there.



With the league campaign about to start, the board send me a reminder of this year’s targets. Their looking for a mid table finish in the Eredivisie which is lenient considering we finished 4th​ last year. We’ve already met expectations in Europe, so anything else now would be a bonus, and the 3rd​ round of the Dutch Cup is again highly achievable.

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The season preview shows that again we are predicted a 12th​ placed finish, the same as last year. However, our odds on winning the league have cut from 500-1 last season to 350-1 this year. Ajax are favourites to win the league for a 3rd​ straight season, despite selling three of their best players this Summer (we’ll come to that at the end of the transfer window). The dream 11 is again dominated by players from the big 3, although AZ have snuck a player in at right back this year with Jonas Svensson. I have two players who made the key players list, both loanees Nicolo Zaniolo and striker Cedric Teuchert.

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Whether it’s the prospect of European football, or off the back end of our fantastic season last year, we’ve managed to gain an extra 500 season ticket holders this year.

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Sunday 11th​ August 2019
Willem II vs FC Utrecht
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Dankerlui (Lachman 48), Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, Colkett (van Ooijen 75), Veerman (Teuchert 64), Sol

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We kicked off the Eredivisie with a solid home win! In the pre season review, they said one of my key players would be young midfidler Nicolo Zaniolo and based on this performance, they weren’t wrong! He was fantastic and scored both goals on our way to taking all 3 points on the opening day!



Damil Dankerlui came off with sprained ankle ligaments against Utrecht and will now miss up to 4 weeks through injury.

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Thursday 15th​ August 2019
Europa League 3rd​ Qualifying Round 2nd​ Leg
Basel vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2 (Changed to 3-2-2-3 on 53 minutes)
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Lachman, Heerkens (Teuchert 53), Demir, Zaniolo, Colkett, Veerman, Sol

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The European dream is over for this season as we’re beaten in Switzerland. It was a valiant effort from my lads against a far superior side. I think Europe may have come a little too early for us and we haven’t quite got our squad up to scratch to compete at this level yet.



We did at least make a little bit of money out of the Europa League. This was along with the £100k we got for making it through the 2nd​ qualifying round as well. Not a lot, but when your turnover is as low as ours, every little helps.

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Sunday 18th​ August 2019
Roda JC vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo (Crowley 75), Colkett (van Ooijen 75), Sol, Teuchert (Veerman 75)

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A close game which could have gone either way. As it happened, it didn’t go either and both teams had to settle for a draw.



On paper, our 1st​ round draw for the Dutch Cup should be an easy one. We’ll take on lower league side VVSB, a club valued at only £229k, who play their homes game in a 2,000 capacity stadium.

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Sunday 25th​ August 2019
Willem II vs NAC Breda
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden (Montoro 79), Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens (Grimm 72), Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Sol (Veerman 72), Teuchert

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If you’re going to score your first goal for the club, then there is no better team to do it against than your bitter rivals, and that’s exactly what Cedric Teuchert did here when he put us in the lead with half an hour remaining. Once we had that lead, it was down to the defence to do their bit and they did exactly that, staying strong and keeping a clean sheet to ensure that one goal was enough for the win!



The club agree to my request to improve the data analysis facilities again.

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Saturday 31st​ August 2019
VVV-Venlo vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Lachman 70), Heerkens, Demir (Wijnaldum 82), Crowley, van Ooijen, Sol, Teuchert (Davids 70)

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It only took 3 minutes for Dan Crowley to score on his first start of the season and give us the lead. When Fran Sol doubled our lead just after the half hour mark, I had no doubt my boys would see the game out. And although they were not fantastic, they were indeed professional in the way they went about their business, shutting out the opposition and keeping another clean sheet.



Not a single goal conceded in the league so far and with 3 wins and a draw to our name, we have made an excellent start and find ourselves in 2nd​ at the end of August. Only Ajax are above us after their perfect start to the season. N.E.C and sc Heerenveen are still looking for their first point.

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Player of the Month
Timon Wellenreuther

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With the 4 clean sheets in the league this month, I had to give it to the keeper who has been ultra consistent with his performances.



Our first real test of the season will come in September as we go away to Feyenoord. I wonder if sc Heerenveen will have a point on the board by the time we play them at the end of the month.

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[FM_TNSSO]

September 2019

"The last manager to lift a trophy with Willem II was Jurgen Streppel. He won the Jupiler League in 2014"


September 2019

This was a big Summer window for one club at least. Ajax raked in more than £55 million on the sales of Justin Kluivert and Matthijs de Ligt to Spurs and Arsenal. Those fees could rise by another £20 million in the future with appearance and international appearance add ons. Ajax also offloaded Donny van de Beek to AC Milan for £9.5 million and Rasmus Nissen Kristensen to Arsenal for £8.5 million taking their total transfer sales to well over £70 million!!! They spent a fair chunk on new players as well forking out £10.25 million for PSV’s Nicolas Isimat-Mirin. They then raided PSV again for Derrick Luckassen’s signature, paying out another £10.75 million for him! Feyenoord also sold one of their best young players as Jerry St Juste joined Watford for over £13 million! I see all these deals happening and just wish I had a player I could move on for £10+ million…..I could probably buy 5 really good players for that sort of money!!

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Sunday 15th​ September 2019
Feyenoord vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens (Grimm 69), Demir, Crowley (Zaniolo 69), van Ooijen, Sol, Teuchert (Veerman 69)

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Last time we played Feyenoord we managed to get the win, so I was hoping my lads could take the confidence of that result into this game. And they only ****** did, as we beat Feyenoord for the 2nd​ time in a row and keep our run of league clean sheets going at the same time. Jeremy Grimm was the hero today as he came off the bench to score the winner with 12 minutes left!



Saturday 21st​ September 2019
Willem II vs ADO Den Haag
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Dankerlui 45), Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen (Colkett 80), Sol, Teuchert (Veerman 45)

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We’ve failed to beat ADO Den Haag in any of our last 4 meetings, and it looked unlikely we were going to get a result here again when they took the lead just after half time. However, my lads showed true grit and a determined effort saw them come back and not only level the scores, but nick all 3 points late on!



Tuesday 24th​ September 2019
VVSB vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Montoro, Chiosa (Plat 70), Dankerlui, Grimm, Demir (Wijnaldum 70), Zaniolo, Colkett, Veerman, Teuchert (Davids 70)

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I took the opportunity here to rotate the squad a little and there were no less than 6 changes to the starting lineup from the team that played ADO Den Haag. Despite all the changes, the lads were still thoroughly dominant and good value for our 3-0 win.



In the 2nd​ round, we’ve been handed an away draw at Jupiler League side FC Emmen. This is the team that knocked us out at the 1st​ round stage in my first season here, so there’s a bit of personal revenge on the cards for me.

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Saturday 28th​ September 2019
Willem II vs sc Heerenveen
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Veerman 68), Grimm, Wijnaldum (Sent off 68), Zaniolo, Colkett, Sol, Teuchert

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After finishing August without a single point, Heerenveen are having a better September, having already picked up a win and a draw, lifting them to 15th​ at kick off. And they presented a tough challenge for us here. At 1-0 down and with Wijnaldum getting sent off (again!), we looked set to record our first defeat of the season. That was, until Veerman stepped up with a tidy close range finish to level the scores on 77 minutes and earn us a point, but more importantly maintain our unbeaten start to the season.



I think this is the first time since I started my Willem II journey, that I have posted a league table at the end of the month with us sitting pretty at the top! Yes, yes, I know we’ve played an extra game than Ajax and FC Groningen, but let us enjoy this moment while it lasts lol!

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Player of the Month
Jeremy Grimm (DM)

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With the injury to Freek Heerkens, it gave Jeremy Grimm an opportunity to get a run of starts and boy has he made the most of that opportunity. It will be hard to drop him now.



October will see us take on the likes of Vitesse and PSV in the league as we look to maintain our position at the top of the table. We’ll also play the 2nd​ round of the Dutch Cup and we look to get some revenge on FC Emmen from 2 years ago.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

October 2019

"Since I took over as manager at Willem II, no player has yet scored a hat trick"


October 2019

Wednesday 2nd​ October 2019
PEC Zwolle vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm (Heerkens 80), Demir, Zaniolo (Crowley 80), van Ooijen, Sol (Veerman 80), Teuchert

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Yes lads….this was a very good performance all round. Really strong in every area of the pitch….never looked troubled in defence and always looked like we were going to score going forward. The link up play through the midfield was excellent. I walk away from this game a very happy manager!



Fran Sol will miss the next few games through injury, meaning Henk Veerman is going to get an opportunity to come back into the starting lineup.

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Saturday 5th​ October 2019
Willem II vs Vitesse
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro (Lachman 80), Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo (Crowley 80), van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert

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It took us a while to get going in this one and Vitesse capitalised on our slow start to the game when they went in front on 6 minutes. We still didn’t really wake up and were lucky not to be 2 or 3 down at the break. However, the 2nd​ half was a **** of a lot better and on that performance, we deserved the equalizer. Overall, on the balance of play, a draw was probably the fairest result as both sides had a half each in which they dominated the game.



Dan Crowley is the latest player to join the injury list and will miss about 4 weeks of action.

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Sunday 20th​ October 2019
SC Cambuur vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro (Van Den Eynden 79), Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Dankerlui 61), Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo (Colkett 61), van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert

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We didn’t exactly set the world alight in this game, but we got the job done with that extra bit of quality that our opponents didn’t have. They may have had a bit more possession (which we played for with a counter attacking mentality) and may have had more shots, but all of their shots were long range hopeful efforts and they didn’t create anything clear cut in the whole game. On the other hand, we may have only had 9 shots but 5 of them were clear cut chances and we put 4 of them away for a big away win!



Thursday 24th​ October 2019
Dutch Cup 2nd​ Round
FC Emmen vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2 (Changed to 3-2-2-3 at half time)
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Peters, Chiosa, Dankerlui, Grimm (Veerman 45), Wijnaldum (Demir 38), Zaniolo (van Ooijen 59), Colkett, Sol, Teuchert

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I rotated the squad as I did in the last round, with 6 changes to the starting lineup from the game against SC Cambuur. But this time, it did backfire and we were ******* awful against our lower league opposition who fully deserve their win! That’s twice we’ve been knocked out of the Dutch Cup by this team in 3 years….bogey team anyone?!



Sunday 27th​ October 2019
PSV vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2 (Changed to 3-2-2-3 on 78 minutes)
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm (Davids 78), Demir, Zaniolo (Colkett 60), van Ooijen, Veerman (Sol 45), Teuchert

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PSV are the first team this season to score more than 1 goal past us in the league and I suppose for that you could say they deserved to be the first team to beat us also. Still, I guess it’s not a bad team to lose our unbeaten league record to.



We lose our place at the top of the table to FC Groningen who have been pretty unbelievable so far this season, considering they have already recorded wins over Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV!!! Surely on that alone, they have to be considered genuine title contenders this year despite not finishing higher than 5th​ in the league for 19 years! The promoted teams from last year, VVV and Helmond, occupy the bottom 2 and look set for a season of struggle.

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Player of the Month
Erdin Demir (WBL)

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In a month where a number of players struggled for form, Erdin Demir still managed to stand out as one of the best on the field in majority of our games.



Only three games in November and it looks tough. We kick off against Ajax and finish against a high flying AZ side who currently sit just behind us in 3rd​!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

November 2019

"Joris Mathijsen is a Dutch centre back who played 127 times for Willem II between 1998-2004. During that time,
he also scored 6 goals, before being sold on to AZ Alkmaar. Throughout his career, Mathijsen
played for the Holland national team more than 80 times"


November 2019

Saturday 2nd​ November 2019
Willem II vs Ajax
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Sol, Teuchert

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This was probably the win of my career so far! Not only did we beat Ajax 3-1 but we were ****** good for it as well! Definitely the first time we’ve genuinely outplayed one of the big 3 and Ajax really do seem to be missing those players they sold in the Summer. I’m not complaining though!



Sunday 10th​ November 2019
N.E.C Nijmegen vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Sol, Teuchert

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After the heroics against Ajax, it’s disappointing that we followed up with a lacklustre performance here against struggling N.E.C. We were outplayed for large parts of the this game and some would say we were lucky to come away with a draw.



Saturday 23rd​ November 2019
Willem II vs AZ Alkmaar
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters (Plat 58), Chiosa, Dankerlui, Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Sol, Teuchert (Veerman 58)

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This game would see 2nd​ taking on 4th​ and so was expected to present a challenge for both sides. However, our task became a **** of a lot easier when AZ were reduced to 10 men just after the half hour mark. From then on, it only really looked like a matter of time before we scored, and in the 2nd​ half we made the extra man count as we scored two goals and went on to secure a huge 3 points.



The planned upgrade to the youth facilities is completed, taking our youth facilities to an ‘excellent’ level.

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With Feyenoord massively underperforming this season, currently sitting 11th​ in the table with only 6 wins from 12 games, Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been sacked.

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Friday 29th​ November 2019
Helmond vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Lachman, Plat, Chiosa (Van Den Eynden 75), Dankerlui, Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen (Colkett 75), Sol, Teuchert (Davids 75)

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Helmond were one of the newly promoted sides, playing Eredivisie football for the first time since 1984, so this was a game I definitely expected us to win. And despite the relatively close scoreline, we won the game with more ease than it suggests.



Fran Sol’s goal against Helmond brought his recent goal drought to an end.

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FC Groningen and us have opened up a bit of a gap at the top of the table and although the chasing pack can close that gap significantly if they win their games in hand, it certainly piles the pressure on them to do so! Helmond and VVV still find themselves in single figure points at this stage of the season and look to battle it out for who’ll finish bottom. Feyenoord are having a nightmare of a season so far as they are in the bottom half, having won only half of their games.

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Player of the Month
Erdin Demir (WBL)

View attachment 44163

Demir continues his good form from last month and wins back to back player of the month awards.



Who’d have thought that the December game between Willem II and FC Groningen would be a top of the table clash?! But that’s exactly what it is as we kick off next month. Following that, we’ll have 3 more league games against sides that occupy spots between 7th​ and 13th​ in the table and will all be looking to give themselves a mid season push into the top 3rd​ of the table.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

December 2019

"Since I arrived at the club, Jordens Peters has been named as my captain every season.
The 32 year old Dutch centre back has been at Willem II for 8 seasons now and
has made over 220 league appearances for the club"


December 2019

Wednesday 4th​ December 2019
FC Groningen vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2 (Changed to 3-2-2-3 on 75 minutes)
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro (Lachman 68), Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Dankerlui 68), Grimm (Sol 75), Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert

View attachment 43940

A top of the table clash resulted in a home win for Groningen which wasn’t entirely deserved on the balance of play. We were the better side, created the better opportunities but struggled to stick the ball in the back of the net. Our attackers failed to convert no less than 3 clear cut chances, and we were made to pay for it!



The upcoming game against FC Twente will be my 100th​ in charge at the club!

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Sunday 8th​ December 2019
Willem II vs FC Twente
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens (Grimm 70), Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Veerman (Sol 70), Teuchert

View attachment 43938

The first half of this game was tightly contested and we just nicked the advantage right on half time when Twente scored an own goal to give us the lead. That seemed to make all the difference and in the 2nd​ half we looked much more in control, and when Fran Sol came off the bench and scored within a minute, the game was never in doubt. We added a third through Nicolo Zaniolo, as he bagged his 4th​ goal of the season, and the points were well and truly in the bag.



After completing my 100th​ game in charge, here is my record at Willem II so far. Almost half of my games have resulted in wins so far, which is incredible considering we are supposed to be a mid to bottom end table side.

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Saturday 14th​ December 2019
FC Utrecht vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens (Grimm 69), Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen (Crowley 69), Veerman (Sol 82), Teuchert

View attachment 43936

What a performance, what a result! Well played lads! A well deserved standing ovation from your manager after this one!



Saturday 21st​ December 2019
Willem II vs Roda JC
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Montoro, Peters (Lachman 48), Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo (Crowley 48), van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert (Sol 48)

View attachment 43935

After a shocking first half performance from us, we worked hard to get back into the game and draw level in the second half. However, we were undone in the 90th​ minute as Roda pinched the win from under our noses and we finish 2019 with a defeat!



I decided it was time to get the board to spend some more money so asked them to invest into the junior coaching side again. This time, they did put up a bit of a fight, but I made a good case and they reluctantly agreed. It means the club now has an exceptional level of junior coaching!!

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That’s right ladies and gents, Willem II are top of the league at the Winter break stage of the season! A monumental effort from the lads so far this season and let’s hope we can continue into the 2nd​ half of the campaign. Things are extremely tight and you could be forgiven for saying there are no less than 8 teams in the hunt for the Eredivisie title. Helmond are really struggling at the bottom of the table now and with only 1 win to their name, they look doomed for relegation.

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Player of the Month
Nicolo Zaniolo

View attachment 43931

The young midfielder has been in great form this month, chipping in with a couple of goals as well. The youngster is really coming of age this season and has gradually improved throughout the first half of the campaign and I hope it’s going to set him up for a good 2nd​ half of the season.



With the Winter break now kicking in, we’ll have a few weeks off and return to action on 19th​ January with a game against our rivals NAC Breda. We’ll follow that up with a game against high flying ADO Den Haag.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

January 2020

"Earnie Stewart is Willem II's most recognised American for conflicting reasons. He played over 170 games for
Willem II during the years of 1990-96. Then, he made the surprising move to the club's bitter rivals
NAC Breda where he played for a further 7 years, playing over 180 games"


January 2020

Contracts were expiring at the end of the season for two of my back three, so I quickly ensured I don’t lose either of them by tying up new deals for Jordens Peters and Marco Chiosa. Peters is likely to become more of a backup over the next season or so, with his stats deteriorating with age, but Chiosa has become so important to us since I signed him last year and has had his squad status bumped up to key player from a squad rotation.

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19 year old centre back Dylan Ryan just hasn’t come on in the reserves as I’d hoped, so I decided to let him move on for the good of his career. The Australian lad has moved to England to join Notts County for an initial fee of £26.5k, which may rise to £40k.

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Fernando Lewis is one of my most valuable players at the club. Not only is he one of the first names on the team sheet every week, but his value of £2.2 million means I simply can’t allow him to go on a free. So I’m pleased to report he has accepted my offer of a new contract, which should keep him here for at least another 18 months.

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Another player that has become so key to our team is Peter van Ooijen. When I signed him, I thought he’d touch on the first team and maybe play 10-15 games a season. However, he has worked his way into the starting lineup and has quickly become one of my favourite players at the club! So again, I’m delighted to have tied him down to a new 3 year contract.

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Damil Dankerlui will be unavailable for the first couple of games in the new year after picking up an injury.

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Jeremy Grimm has come to me saying that he is feeling homesick and may want to return to France. I have given him extended leave to return home for a month and hope that he can get it out of his system. If not, there is a chance he could be leaving us in the Summer. It would be a shame as the player has made 33 league appearances for us since arriving from Strasbourg last year.

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Sunday 19th​ January 2020
NAC Breda vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2 (Changed to 3-2-2-3 at half time)
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Lachman 45), Heerkens (Sol 45), Wijnaldum, Zaniolo (Crowley 64), van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert

View attachment 43899

We kicked off 2020 in the same fashion as we ended 2019, with a defeat! But this one hurt a bit more as we lost to our rivals who are languishing down in the bottom 4 of the table!!



Saturday 25th​ January 2020
ADO Den Haag vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Montoro, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo (Crowley 75), van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert (Sol 64)

View attachment 43898

We bounced back from back to back defeats with a good away win at Den Haag who would of only been a point behind us if they’d beaten us here. However, with us securing victory, we actually go a good 7 points ahead of them, as they drop to 7th​ in the table.



On transfer deadline day, we added just the one player to this year’s squad and that was 21 year old left full back/wing back, Jay Dasilva. Dasilva will offer good competition down the left side and is a very strong attacking player with really good crossing ability when he gets forward. I’m looking forward to utilising him in the first team during the next few months.

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As the January transfer window came to a close, it was again Ajax who made the biggest moves. They raked in another £13 million for the sale of goalkeeper Andre Onana who joined Watford. They used that money to sign striker, Roger Assale from Young Boys for £6 million. In his 3 games so far, he already has a goal and an assist to his name, so it looks like money well spent. Ajax were also on the hunt for a goalkeeper to replace Onana, and they signed up Gaston Gomez from Racing Club in Argentina for just over £9 million. He looks like a decent acquisition as well as Ajax look to continue their charge towards a 3rd​ straight league title.

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Despite losing one of our two games, we remain top of the table for another month. Helmond have had a fantastic start to the new year winning both their games and lifting off the bottom of the table!! One of those wins came against Feyenoord as well!!

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Player of the Month
Antonio Montoro

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The 22 year old centre back has been a pivotal figure at the back for us this season after working his way into the first 11. He was only signed with a backup role in mind, so fair play to the youngster for working hard to earn a first team spot! He has started the year with his usual consistency and earns his first player of the month.



Four games coming up in February including matches against bottom side VVV and massive underachievers Feyenoord. Is it wrong that I’m not feeling anywhere near as nervous about that game as I normally would and have an air of confidence that we’ll turn them over?! (I might live to regret that)

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

February 2020

"Willem II go by two nicknames....Tricolores and Superkruiken"


February 2020

Saturday 1st​ February 2020
Willem II vs VVV-Venlo
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Van Den Eynden, Montoro, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir (Dasilva 63), Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert (Sol 63)

View attachment 43841

Top vs bottom and we came out on top…..just! It took a penalty to get us the win, despite dominating the entire game!



Sunday 9th​ February 2020
Willem II vs Feyenoord
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis (Dankerlui 73), Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen (Colkett 69), Veerman (Teuchert 69), Sol

View attachment 43840

For the first time against one of the big 3, I actually came into this game as favourites to win! And win we did! Feyenoord really did look disappointing and it’s obvious to see why they find themselves stuck in the bottom half of the table this year! Yes they had a lot of shots, which make their stats look great but virtually all of them were hopeful efforts from 20+ yards which never troubled our keeper! On top of their lack of composure up front, they looked extremely vulnerable in defence as we looked like we’d score every time we entered their half!



Saturday 15th​ February 2020
sc Heerenveen vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo (Crowley 64), van Ooijen, Veerman, Sol (Teuchert 64)

View attachment 43839

A last gasp equalizer from substitute Dan Crowley earns us a valuable point in what was a very even game.



Jeremy Grimm has returned from his extended leave in France. Hopefully, his homesickness is behind him now but only time will tell.

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On the international stage, my long term aim is to get the Holland job and win the Euros and World Cup. However, I felt I’d need to increase my reputation on that stage in order to be considered for that job if and when it comes up again. So I’ve been looking around to see what’s available lately. I stuck in an application for the vacant Iceland job and the Icelandic FA have come back and offered me the job, which I gladly accepted!

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The Icelandic FA have immediately given me their expectations in the role. They are looking for me to make the final of the European Championship Qualifying Playoffs. We will play Albania in the semi finals which has to be seen as a very winnable tie.

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As I take a look at my Iceland squad, there are a couple of players who really stand out as my best! £40 million rated Gylfi Sygurdsson is clearly the star man! Johann Berg Gudmundsson of Burnley is also one of the stand out players, valued at a whopping £38 million! However, if I’m looking to play my usual 3-3-2-2 formation, I’m going to struggle to fit him in the side with him being an out and out winger!

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Saturday 22nd​ February 2020
Willem II vs PEC Zwolle
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens (Grimm 63), Demir (Dasilva 72), Zaniolo (Crowley 63), van Ooijen, Veerman, Sol

View attachment 43831

A disappointing draw from a game we definitely should have won! We were the better team throughout, but one silly defensive mistake in giving away a soft penalty cost us here. It’s the results like this that you look back on at the end of a season and think ‘that one right there cost us a couple of points’!



Saturday 29th​ February 2020
Willem II vs SC Cambuur
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo (van Ooijen 18), Crowley (Colkett 45), Veerman, Teuchert

View attachment 43830

Cedric Teuchert became the very first player under my management here to score a hat trick, and it took the striker all of 24 minutes to do it! Although, you could argue that it only took him 7 minutes as all three goals came between the 17th​ and 24th​ minutes. Cambuur managed a consolation goal in the 2nd​ half but never threatened to get back on level terms and this was nothing short of comfortable for us!



Dan Crowley had to be replaced at half time during the SC Cambuur game after picking up an injury that will keep him out for the next 3 weeks.

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We drop to 2nd​ in the table this month as Ajax take their place at the top of the Eredivisie. With only 8 games remaining, we look nailed on for a top 4 finish again (barring a complete meltdown), but I’ll be disappointed if we don’t finish top 3 now and avoid the European playoffs. Feyenoord will now be looking up the table and see that even making the European Playoff spots (top 7) may be beyond them now!

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Player of the Month
Fernando Lewis

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The wing back has been in top form this month, with no bad performances from his 5 appearances. With a goal and an assist thrown in for good measure, Lewis continues to solidify his place as a first team regular.



Coming up in March, we’ll play 3 league games and it’s sure to be make or break as we take on both Ajax and PSV who are challenging for the title alongside us…..yes that’s right, we find ourselves in a title challenge, only 3 seasons into my reign!

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March will also present me with my first ever game in international management as my Iceland team will take on Albania in the European Championship Qualifying Playoff Semi Final.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

March 2020

"Our most common result this season so far has been a 1-1 draw. We have had this result 6 times
this season against sc Heerenveen twice, Vitesse twice, N.E.C and PEC Zwolle"


March 2020

Saturday 7th​ March 2020
Vitesse vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro (Lachman 71), Peters, Chiosa, Dankerlui, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert (Sol 71)

View attachment 43639

Vitesse were another side that were having a poor season by their standards, as they came into this game 12th​ in the table. However, that didn’t stop them turning in a good game here and nicking a point off us!



Sunday 15th​ March 2020
Ajax vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Grimm, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen, Veerman, Teuchert

View attachment 43638

Ajax had now opened up a 6 point gap to us before kick off at the top of the table, so a win for them here would put them in prime position to pick up a 3rd​ straight league title. And win they did, pretty easily as we struggled to match them all over the park. That probably kisses goodbye to any dreams of winning an unlikely league title this year and now our focus will turn to finishing in the top 3 to qualify for next year’s European competitions.



The world rankings are announced and Iceland are currently ranked all the way down in 91st​ position!!

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Since 2017, Iceland have had a massive fall from grace. Just 3 years ago, the nation had risen to just outside the top 20 and have dropped no less than 70 places!!

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I announce my first Iceland squad prior to the match with Albania next week.

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And while we’re on the point of the Iceland squad, here it is in full…

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Sunday 22nd​ March 2020
Willem II vs PSV
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Wellenreuther, Montoro, Peters (Lachman 64), Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, van Ooijen (Colkett 64), Sol (Veerman 64), Teuchert

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This was a game that had the potential to have huge consequences on the final league table, with the two clubs sitting 2nd​ and 3rd​ in the table. And it was PSV who came out on top, smashing another 5 past us, as Ajax had done in the game before. We’ve looked really poor defensively in the last couple of games and Wellenreuther had an absolute nightmare in goal today which didn’t help! His errors led to two of the goals and it’s likely he’ll be dropped for the next game.



Friday 27th​ March 2020
European Championship Qualifying Playoff Semi Final
Iceland vs Albania
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Kristinsson, Eyjolfsson, Ingason, Fjoluson, Johannesson, Gunnarsson, Skulason (Sent off 100), Bjarnason (Porarinsson 78), G.Sigurdsson, Bodvarsson (Olafsson 60), Siguroarson (Finnbogason 60)

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Well my first game in charge of Iceland literally had everything….goals, sending offs, late extra time drama, and it all ended in a victory for us! Gylfi Sigurdsson lived up to his own hype as the star man by scoring the equalizer in the 2nd​ half, but it was substitute Goumundur Porarinsson who stole the headlines with the 116th​ minute winner whilst we were down to 10 men after Skulason’s sending off for his 2nd​ yellow!



To put that result into perspective and how big a win it was for us, you can see that this Iceland side have only won once in the past 2 years and that was against Kosovo!

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We will play Republic of Ireland in the Playoff Final. Although we have the home advantage, I would imagine they will be heavy favourites to win the game!

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Tuesday 31st​ March 2020
European Championship Qualifying Playoff Final
Iceland vs Republic of Ireland
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Kristinsson, Eyjolfsson, Ingason, Fjoluson, Johannesson (Gislason 63), Gunnarsson, Traustason, Bjarnason, G.Sigurdsson, Bodvarsson, Siguroarson (Olafsson 58)

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We were absolutely rampant in the first half of this game, scoring 3 goals and racing into a comfortable lead. The half time talk was simply to settle the lads and ensure they don’t get carried away! And the lads did their job pretty well. Although Ireland managed to get one back through James McClean, they never looked like getting back on terms with us and our defence shut them out comfortably for most of the half. A late goal from Bodvarsson sealed the game which made it two wins from two as Iceland manager for me…..back to back wins for Iceland for the first time in this entire save!



The win means that we’ll be in the hat on the 10th​ April for the European Championship 2020!! Only the 2nd​ time in Iceland’s history that they have qualified for the competition.

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So as the month comes to a close, we have dropped to 3rd​ in the league and it now looks like a two horse race between Ajax and PSV for the title, although Ajax hold all the aces. With a 4 point buffer to FC Groningen, we’re heavy favourites to finish 3rd​, which would be a massive achievement and guarantee us Europa League Group Stage football next season…..so that is now the realistic aim with 5 games remaining!

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Player of the Month
Fernando Lewis

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In a month where we failed to get a win under our belt, I decided to give the player of the month to Lewis who only played two games but did well in both! No other player in the squad this month had a run of games without at least 1 bad game.



Four of our last five games will come next month and we play some of the teams in the bottom half so there is the opportunity to pick up enough points to guarantee that 3rd​ place spot!

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

April 2020

"Our longest unbeaten streak this season has been 10 games
which lasted between August and October 2019"


April 2020

Sunday 5th​ April 2020
Willem II vs N.E.C Nijmegen
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, Crowley, Veerman, Teuchert

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FC Groningen had already won on the Saturday, which made this a must win for us! And a goal in each half was enough for us to take all 3 points and maintain our 4 point margin over Groningen. On another good note, PSV lost, meaning we closed the gap to them in 2nd​ to only 4 points as well!



Bad news comes through on the Iceland front. Centre back Ragnar Sigurdsson has picked up a long term injury that means he’ll miss the entire European Championships. He is without a doubt one of our best defenders so it’s a massive blow!

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The day has come for the draw for the group stage of the European Championships! And at this stage of the draw, I was probably hoping for either Group A or Group E! At all costs, I wanted to avoid Group D….talk about a group of death or what!?

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I can’t whinge as I get one of the groups I wanted. Group E it is alongside Scotland, Serbia and Spain. Three clubs that are ranked significantly higher than us and we’ll be highly expected to finish bottom of the group with 0 points!

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I set our warm up friendlies for the competition, opting to play games against Nigeria and Turkey before the Euros kicks off.

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Sunday 12th​ April 2020
AZ Alkmaar vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Peters (Montoro 51), Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo, Crowley, Veerman, Teuchert (Sol 51)

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FC Groningen again won the day before, upping the pressure on us for this game. And in the first half it looked like the lads couldn’t handle that pressure at all. We were simply awful and AZ were good value for their half time 2-0 lead! However, the 2nd​ half was a totally different story and the boys looked a different side. We fought back to earn a draw after dominating the 2nd​ 45 minutes and although the gap back to Groninhen is now only 2 points, this point could prove valuable come the end of the season.



My Iceland squad will be using Partick Thistle’s training facilities for the European Championships.

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A massive jump in the rankings to 61st​ in the world for Iceland. It’s amazing what back to back wins can do!

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Friday 17th​ April 2020
Willem II vs Helmond
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir (Dasilva 64), Zaniolo, Crowley (Colkett 64), Veerman, Teuchert (Davids 72)

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A comfortable home win against one of the sides battling it out at the bottom. This was a game I fully expected us to win, and when they went down to 10 men in the first half, I would have been majorly disappointed not to take all 3 points. So I’m glad the lads kept their professionalism and got the job done!



With two games remaining, Ajax are confirmed as Eredivisie champions for the 3rd​ season in a row. It’s going to be really hard to peg the Dutch giants back, that much is becoming plainly obvious!

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Earlier in the month, I mentioned the 8 month injury that was picked up by Ragnar Sigurdsson. Well, off the back of that, the player has decided to retire from football and a player that played 85 times for the Iceland national side, will not play for them ever again.

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However, he will still be involved around the national team as I offered him a role as U19s coach, which he has accepted.

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The shortlist for the Dutch Young Player of the Year award is announced and I am invited to cast my 3 votes. Obviously Nicolo Zaniolo gets my number 1 pick, followed by Romero and Floranus.

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Sunday 26th​ April 2020
FC Twente vs Willem II
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Demir, Zaniolo (Colkett 45), Crowley, Veerman (Sol 45), Teuchert

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Wow! Not quite sure where that result came from but we were absolutely f*cking amazing here! We made FC Twente look like a non league side as we gave them a 5-0 thrashing! Dan Crowley really stood out, not just for his two goals, but his all round play….everything we did went through him today and Twente just could not handle him!



With only one game remaining, we’ve only gone and snuck into 2nd​ place in the table and are guaranteed at least 3rd​. A win against FC Groningen in our final game of the season will see us keep hold of 2nd​! However, we may not even have to get a result as PSV take on champions Ajax in their final match! Feyenoord are trying really hard to work their way into the top 7 and make the European Qualifying Playoffs.

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Player of the Month
Dan Crowley

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Crowley has been in sensational form this month! Three assists, two goals and two match ratings over 9.0 is incredible from any player!



As mentioned above, our final game of the season will see us play at home to FC Groningen.

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​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

May 2020

"The club's points tally this season is the highest Willem II
have ever achieved in the Eredivisie"


May 2020


The shortlist for the goalkeeper of the year is released and I am invited to make my 3 votes. Now this one I’m not allowed to vote for my own keeper, so my three votes went to Hidde Jurjus, Warner Hahn and Andre Hansen.

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No disrespect to Heracles, but this must have been the easiest cup final PSV have ever played in! I bet they couldn’t believe their luck in reaching the final to meet a Jupiler league side!

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Sunday 10th​ May 2020
Willem II vs FC Groningen
Formation: 3-3-2-2
Lineup: Branderhorst, Lachman, Peters, Chiosa, Lewis, Heerkens, Dasilva, Zaniolo, Crowley, Veerman, Teuchert

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A win was what we needed to finish 2nd​ and solid 1-0 win was what we got! Well done lads!



And there’s the confirmation of 2nd​ place in the final league table. Even if we hadn’t of beaten Groningen on the final day, we’d have still finished 2nd​ as PSV only managed a draw with Ajax. We’ll be entering the qualifying stages of the Champions League next season! Unbelievable what we’ve achieved in just 3 seasons and it gives us a real strong platform to build on next year, especially if we can attract a couple of ‘really good’ players to the club over the Summer.

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As the season comes to a close, we take a look at the overall best 11. Nicolos Zaniolo is the only player to be inducted into the first 11, although Henk Veerman and Erdin Demir also make the bench!

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On awards night, it’s left wing back Erdin Demir who picks up the fan’s player of the year and well deserved it is too! No surprise that Zaniolo picked up the young signing of the season either! The only real surprise for me in the best eleven was that Jeremy Grimm beat Heerkens to the DM role.

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Again, we get a blinding review from the media on our season as we massively overachieved again! A 2nd​ place finish was never predicted at the start of the year, with most people expecting us to finish somewhere in the top half and ‘maybe’ push for a European Qualification Playoff spot.

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Obviously, the board are delighted with my performance!

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The board send me the budgets for next year. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw they were giving me £1.6 million to spend on new players! It may not sound a lot but this is a f*cking warchest compared to what I’m used to!

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I pick my preliminary squad for the upcoming European Championships and apparently there are a couple of surprises for the Iceland fans.

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The club send me the commercial summary for the past year! The biggest thing to note here is that individual TV deal which could make a real difference to the club moving forward….it’s gone from under £2 million to over £7 million!!!

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PSV may have missed out on 2nd​ place and Champions League qualification to us, but they will still be playing Champions League football next season…..because they won the Europa League after beating PSG in the final! This has only got to be a good thing for Dutch football and will increase the profile of our country and hopefully move us up the European league rankings….enabling more clubs to qualify for the European competitions further down the line.

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Time to offer up my vote for manager of the year. I have to give it to Cocu as I think winning the Europa League with PSV was a great achievement. 2nd​ place I give to Hennie Spijkeerman of FC Groningen as he massively overachieved with them this year. Finally, my 3rd​ vote goes to ten Hag as he did win the league after all.

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My final 23 man squad for the European Championships has been chosen!

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Willem II announce losses of nearly £1 million over the course of the past season. However, we have not yet had our £5 million+ awarded for finishing 2nd​ in the league yet.

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The draw for the European International League Division B has taken place and it was probably written in the stars that my Iceland team would be drawn in the same group as Holland!

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​

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Great 2nd place finish, a decent Euro's with Iceland could see your stock rise even higher!

 

[ninjaskill]

Good finish in the league and always nice to do well with a TV deal on the line. Hopefully the CL qualifying goes well