After a slow start to his managerial career in the Juliper league, Englishman Adam Russell has won over his early critics with an impressive run of results that have seen the small club from Velsen clim into the top half of the table.
The White Lions have had low expectations of late. Since their relegation from the Eredivisie in 1978, the club has rarely been near to the play offs in the Eerst Divisie, as it is known to purists of the Dutch game. Prolonged lower table finishes have been interrupted by an occasional foray into the upper reaches, with the club notably finishing 7th in 2005 - their only top half finish for over a decade. Something had to change to prevent a slow slide that has seen the club finish lower and lower in recent years, although many were not expecting that change to be a gamble with an unknown english manager with little knowledge of the Dutch language.
The club have been quoted as saying they were attracted to the appointment by the manager's "suave looks and charismatic demeanour", hardly characteristics which would guarantee much success as a manager of a semi-profesionnal league side. The financial restrictions at the club - a weekly wage budget of only £15k/week - have also been a source of concern for the supporters, with seemingly little room to maneuvure in the transfer market.
Regardless, this hasn't prevented Telstar making some impressive moves. Ex-Dutch international Romano Deneboom (finishing: 6) has been persuaded to don the white shirt, whilst the club has signed a couple of unknowns in Tim Nelemans and Julius Wille. Nelemans has so far been particularly impressive. The 31 year old, signed on a free from FC Oss, scored a brace on his debut, and has quickly become a solid first pick in the middle of a midfield 3 that supports the bright talents of Nelemans behind the striker of Castillo or loanee Staysgi (from AZ Alkmaar). Goalkeeper xxxxxx was one of the surprise departures, albeit for a club record fee of £110k which has seemingly helped to steady the financial ship at Telstar. The signing of Dembelé has added some defensive solidity, although the club will be concerned about the number of goals conceded so far - a total of 19 goals in 15 games.
The season started with a rather uninspiring couple of results. Losses to Eindhoven, Ajax B and Volendam were only relieved briefly by a draw with VVV. The club looked like it may have a difficult season ahead with a gap developing between it and the clubs above outside the relegation zone. Since then though, the club has started to get some impressive results. A new possession based approach has allowed the club to control the games for large periods, and have resulted in good wins against Willem II (4-1 away) and Almere (2-1 home). The success has allowed the club to start to elevate itself into the top half and has consolidated over the last few matches to give it a good chance of making a play off push. The fans will not get over excited.
Rumours of some over spending on the wages front (the likes of Deneboom or Benvegnu are unlikely to be on a small wage) raise some question marks over the club's longer term sustainability. They will have to hope that Adam Russell continues to produce the results he's delivered so far and can deliver some success in the league that will result in some higher income further down the line. Falure to do so, and the club may face the same fate that other dutch clubs have faced in the past, and find it difficult to keep going, especially with their 3k capacity ground greatly restricting any ticket receipts in the future.