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| Van
der Sar wants to leave Juventus |
12 July 2001
|
| Dutch
international goalie Edwin van der Sar is looking for another club after Juventus
bought Gianluigi Buffon for a record fee (for a keeper). The former
Ajax goalkeeper has not been very popular, to say the least, in Italy -
his modest and sober style of goalkeeping has not impressed, while he's
actually the least passed goalie in the Italian league during his two
years there. His on-pitch style had the same effect on Ajax fans before
they realised just how good he was/is and he ended up being one of the
heroes of the great Ajax team of the mid-90s. After 9 years in Amsterdam
the "ijskonijn"(or icerabbit as he was affectionately known)
left for the warmer climes of southern Europe and top club Juventus but
has failed to develop a rapport with the Italian club's following. Dortmund
are one of several clubs who've been interested, Liverpool
are not!, and we should be hearing shortly who the three candidates
are who've contacted his agent Rob Jansen! |
| Clarence
Seedorf to sign for Marseille? |
12 July 2001
|
| Dutch
international Clarence Seedorf (57 caps) could be set to sign for
Olympique Marseille after Inter Milan and the French side agreed in
principle to the midfielder's transfer. The only stumbling block could be
the 25 year-old's salary - he's been earning somewhere in the region of
€3.5 million Euros a year in Italy and the French club will want to pay
him rather less! |
| Ferguson
guarantees Van Nistelrooy action |
10 July 2001
|
| Alex
Ferguson has guaranteed that Ruud van Nistelrooy will be a permanent
fixture of Manchester United's lineup and says he's no.1 choice up front.
He'll get his first chance to shine for the Reds during their Asian tour
which begins against the Thai national eleven on July 22nd, followed by
matches against a Singapore 'selected' eleven on July 24th, ending with a
match against Malaysia on July 29th. |
| Westerveld
denies Liverpool want Van der Sar |
10 July 2001
|
| The
English press have been saying for days that Liverpool are interested in
buying the out-of-favour-at-Juventus Edwin van der Sar. Sander Westerveld
(no.1 goalie at Liverpool) has cleared things up by asking Gérard
Houllier if it's true and, as so often is the case, it's not true and the
club have no intention of buying another keeper. End of rumour! |
| Dortmund
want to buy Van der Sar |
08 July 2001
|
| The
German side Dortmund have approached Juventus with an interest in buying
Dutch international goalie Edwin van der Sar. The Italian club have just
bought Gianluigi Buffon from AS Parma for a record fee (for a goalie!) -
trainer Marcelo Lippi making it clear that Buffon will be 1st choice and
Uruguay's national keeper Fabian Carini will no.2. It seems likely that
Van der Sar, who's had a poor season, could well be ready to change clubs. |
| No
FIFA clemency for Edgar Davids |
07 July 2001
|
| There
will be no clemency or softening of the punishment handed out by FIFA to
Edgar Davids and Fernando Couto - the appeals of the Dutch FA (KNVB) and
the Portugese FA have fallen on deaf ears at FIFA HQ. President Joseph
Blatter has said the
bans will remain in force and that the respective FAs would be better
off making sure the situation doesn't arise again in the future. Both
players received automatic international bans after UEFA suspended them
from playing when they (and Frank de Boer and several
other players in Europe) failed a
dope test for nandrolone misuse. |
| Benfica
want to get rid of P-Air |
06 July 2001
|
| Wim
Jonk ends career |
06 July 2001
|
| Former
international Wim Jonk has decided to call it a day and put a fullstop
behind his footballing career. The 34 year-old ex-FC Volendam, Ajax,
Internazionale, PSV and Sheffield Wednesday player has been suffering
from a chronic groin injury during the last 6 months and has been without a
club since July 1st. It's expected he'll soon start work for Dutch public
broadcaster the NOS' Studio Sport programme. |
| Van
der Sar on the way out at Juventus? |
05 July 2001
|
| Edwin
van der Sar's days looked to be numbered now that his club Juventus have
bought Gianluigi Buffon in a record breaking deal which makes him the most
expensive goalie in history. Juventus are said to have paid €54,4
million Euros for the 23 year-old Parma keeper. It's not impossible that
the Dutch international, who's been having form problems, will move aside
and go to play for Barcelona - you never know! |
| Pierre
van Hooijdonk talks to Feyenoord? |
04 July 2001
|
| The
Dutch daily newspaper "Algemeen Dagblad" has reported that talks
between Pierre van Hooijdonk and Feyenoord are in an advanced stage and
could lead to a contract for several years. Benfica are in financial
problems and would like to sell the striker - he'd been offered to
Galasatary in part exchange for Jardel earlier this season. The former
RBC, NAC, Celtic, Nottingham Forest, Vitesse and Benfica player is well
known for his goal scoring abilities with 238 goals in 382 matches. |
| Van
der Gaag signs for CS Marítimo |
02 July 2001
|
| As
we reported earlier, Utrecht's Mitchell van der Gaag was set to move
to Portugese club CS Marítimo and we can now tell you that he's signed
a contract for two years, with an option on a third. |
| Van
der Gouw one more year with Man United |
01 July 2001
|
| Raymond
van der Gouw has agreed to stay on for another year at Manchester United -
he wants to be in on the action at Old Trafford during Alex Ferguson's
last season with "The Reds". The 38 year-old reserve keeper
(Fabien Barthez being 1st choice) is also expected to join the club's
technical staff at the end of next season. |
| KNVB
battles to clear Edgar Davids |
30 June 2001
|
| The
Dutch FA (KNVB) are joining forces with the Portugese FA in a battle to
get the FIFA bans lifted which were imposed earlier this year on both Edgar
Davids, in Holland, and Fernando Couto, in Portugal, after both
players tested positive for nandrolone. Both Football Associations are
claiming that FIFA's " Executive Comittee" has no official
status, no legal powers to hand out such a ban and is not even included in
the organisation's statutes. |
| Giovanni
van Bronckhorst signs with Arsenal |
20 June 2001
|
| De
Boer appeals against UEFA suspension |
19 June 2001
|
| Frank
de Boer has launched his appeal against the UEFA suspension handed out to
the Dutch international and Barcelona player last week. He played his last
match against Valencia on Sunday and will have to wait until the appeal
hearing in the second half of July to hear whether he will be able to play
again soon. Holland meet Ireland in September in the last chance for
Oranje to make it to the World Cup in Korea. |
| Barcelona
extend Frank de Boer's contract |
16 June 2001
|
| Barcelona
have extended Frank de Boer's contract for 2 years with an option for a
3rd in a gesture of confidence in the Dutch
Captain's innocence after he was banned from playing for one year by UEFA
for failing a doping test. He's going to appeal against the decision
and intends fighting to the bitter end to clear his name. In the meantime,
in Holland, there has been criticism of the tactics employed by his legal
team during the hearing of his case last Thursday. It seems that his
experts revealed their 'secret weapon' (calling into question the
reliability of the laboratory tests used to detect the misuse of banned
substances) too soon. It would have been more effective to have waited to
unleash their 'attack' during the appeal hearing when UEFA's own legal
experts are present and a proper legal argument could then have been
presented in a more effective manner. Some good news is that, because of
his appeal, he'll be able to play the last and vitally important match of
the season against Valencia. If they win they get a place in the
qualifying rounds of the Champions League (while Valencia will have to
make do with the UEFA Cup) but if they lose they will end the season out
of the top 5 for the first time since 1987/88. |
| Jordi
Cruijff extends contract with Alavés |
16 June 2001
|
| Jordi
Cruijff has extended his contract with Spanish club Alavés for another 4
years. He joined the surprise team of the Spanish League (who were beaten
in the UEFA Cup Final by Liverpool) last year from Manchester United. His
time in England was an unhappy one where he was dogged by injury and never
managed to secure a regular 1st team place due the heavy competition in
the Old Trafford squad but has made a comeback and turned into a key
figure with his new club. See our
profile of Johan Cruijff's son. |
| Arsenal
bid for Giovanni van Bronckhorst |
16 June 2001
|
| Arsenal
are preparing to put in a bid of somewhere in the region of €13.61
million Euros for Glasgow Rangers' Dutch international Giovanni van
Bronckhorst. The defender is cautious about speculating about the move
until the clubs have had official contact - after
all his speculated move to Chelsea fell through recently. Unofficial
talks have taken place via the telephone between Rangers' chairman David
Murray and "The Gunners" vice-chairman David Dein and it's
expected that the deal could be closed within a matter of days. Arsenal
hope that Giovanni's arrival will persuade Patrick Viera to stay with the
club - he's been threatening to leave if the defence at Highbury Park
wasn't reinforced to help compete on more equal terms with the continuing
dominant force in the English Premiership - Manchester United. |
| P-Air
uninterested in Turkey move |
15 June 2001
|
| P-Air
van Hooijdonk is uninterested in helping Benfica close a swap-plus-money
deal which would take him to Turkish club Galtasaray in exchange for Mario
Jardel moving to Portugal. He said "no way José" to the
proposal and had turned down offers to sign for Turkish clubs Fenerbahce
and Besiktas last year before he signed on the dotted line for Benfica.
It's a well known fact that Jardel wants a return to Portugal after
failing to settle in Turkey and Benfica remain the club most likely to
sign the star-striker. |
| Frank
de Boer gets one year ban |
15 June 2001
|
| 'Vitamin'
manufacturer takes De Boer to court |
14 June 2001
|
| The
Ortho Company, manufacturer of the Plantina dietary supplements, has taken
Frank de Boer and his father-in-law and agent, Rob Cohen, to court. They
want written guarantees that their products will no longer be named in
connection with the Dutch international's 'doping' affair. The player had
not reacted to requests by the company that samples of their products,
which De Boer had been using and had handed over to a laboratory in
Groningen for analysis, be returned for tests in their own laboratories.
They are unhappy that their products are being suspected of being
contaminated with nandrolone while they do not contain the banned
substance. |
| Baki
Mercimek goes to Sunderland |
14 June 2001
|
| Haarlem's
Baki Mercimek has signed a contract for 3 years (with an option for 2 more)
with English side Sunderland. The 18 year-old defender, who's apparently
seen by some members of the English press (and his new club) as the 'new
Jaap Stam', had gone in search of a new club after turning down a new
contract at Haarlem. He was equally uninterested in a return to Ajax but
is very happy with a move to the English Premiership with its combination
of physical and technical football. |
| Makaay
and Overmars score important goals |
11 June 2001
|
| A
Roy Makaay goal gave Deportivo la Coruña a 1 - 0 victory against Valencia
and assured his team of a place in the Champions League next season while
Barça drew against Real Valladolid thanks to a 81st minute goal from Marc
Overmars. Valencia will now have to fight it out with Barcelona for the
other Champions League place when they play their last match away at Camp
Nou. |
| PSV
interested in Ipswich's Martijn Reuser |
08 June 2001
|
| According
to 'English sources' PSV are showing a sudden interest in Ipswich Town's
Martijn Reuser and have supposedly offered close to €10 million Euros
for him. The Premier League side have qualified for the UEFA Cup next
season and look unlikely to let the 25 year-old former Ajax and Vitesse
midfielder go. |
| Alfred
Nijhuis signs for Karlsruher SC |
06 June 2001
|
| The
35 year-old defender Alfred Nijhuis started his professional career at MSV
Duisburg (he's never played professionally in Holland) before moving to
Borussia Dortmund and has now signed a contract with Karlsruher SC
(freshly promoted to the Second Division of the Bundesliga) for one year. |
| Frank
de Boer extends Barcelona contract |
31 May 2001
|
| Frank
de Boer and Barcelona have signed a new contract which will keep the Dutch
captain with the Spanish club till 2003. The 31 year-old has been with
Barça since January 1999 and has every intention of finishing his career
with them. |
| FIFA
ban for Edgar Davids |
31 May 2001
|
| FIFA
have banned Edgar Davids from playing in international matches for the
same length of time as the Italian FA's suspension. It is a major piece of
bad news for Oranje as they prepare for this coming Saturday's World Cup
qualifier against Estland and a psychological blow for Dutch football.
Frank de Boer will be expecting the same treatment when FIFA meets on June
14th to discuss his case. In the meantime Barcelona's chairman Joan
Gaspart has threatened to sue UEFA if they hand out a ban to the Dutch
captain. At least he'll be representing his country in Estland and it will
be a test of his character to see how he leads Oranje through this crucial
match in their attempt to qualify for the World Cup. |
| Kluivert
and Barcelona reach agreement |
30 May 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert and Barcelona have reached a verbal agreement on a new contract
which should see the Dutch international stay with the club until 2006. He
joined the club in 1998 from AC Milan where he'd played for one season but
didn't settle in. He's been in conflict with the Spanish side for some
months now regarding the financial content of the new contract and, in
addition, his demand to know who was going to be the new trainer. |
| De
Boer's 2nd test also positive |
30 May 2001
|
| Frank
de Boer's 2nd test for nandrolone has also given a positive result
which means the Barcelona defender and Oranje captain could face a
possible ban for two years. The club have been informed and await UEFA's
verdict on the matter which is expected on June 14th. Then we will all get
to hear the punishment to be handed out and see the repercussions that
will undoubtedly occur in it's wake. |
| Marcel
Cas off to Scotland |
23 May 2001
|
| As
we reported earlier, RBC's Marcel Cas was on the point of signing a
contract with Scottish side Livingston. Well the papers have been signed
and the 29 year-old midfielder has a contract for 2 years. |
| Chelsea
- Van Bronckhorst deal off |
23 May 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers' and Dutch international Giovanni van Bronckhorst is not moving
"south of the border" to Chelsea after all. Apparently the
Scottish side are unwilling to accept the €9,53 million on offer (they
actually want €15,88). |
| René
Meulensteen gets Manchester United job |
22 May 2001
|
| René
Meulensteen is leaving his current job with Qattari side Al Saad and going
to Manchester United as technical advisor. The 39 year-old is a student of
Wil Coerver who brought him to Quatar 8 years ago. |
| Van
Bronckhorst signs for Chelsea |
22 May 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers and Dutch international Giovanni van Bronckhorst has signed a
contract to play for London club Chelsea. As
we reported earlier, he was already linked to the Premiership side,
has agreed terms and now it's up to the clubs to decide on the fee. |
| De
Boer gets 2 for Rangers - Giovanni subs |
21 May 2001
|
| Ronald
de Boer scored two goals in Glasgow Rangers 4 - 0 win against Hibernian
while Giovanni van Bronckhorst (last linked to a 'move to Chelsea'
story)
made his first appearance in two months (he's been out through injury)
when
he substituted for Arthur Numan in the 69th minute (Bert Konterman and
Fernando Ricksen were also in the lineup). |
| Hesselbaink
top scorer in England |
20 May 2001
|
| Dutch
international and Chelsea striker Jerrel Hesselbaink is England's top
scorer with 23 goals for the season (closest rival Ipswich Town's Marcus
Stewart on 19). His goal against Manchester City yesterday helped Chelsea
to make sure of a place in Europe next season. |
| Overmars
scores in Barça win against Alavès |
20 May 2001
|
| Marc
Overmars scored the winning goal in Barcelona's win against
UEFA Cup final losers Alavès. Patrick Kluivert made an appearance as
substitute (after
last weekend's booing of the striker) for Michael Reiziger who left
with an injured shoulder (and now looks doubtful for Holland's coming
World Cup qualifier against Estland). Barça are now 4th on 59 points from
35 games, 3 points behind 3rd placed Valencia. |
| Chelsea
want Van Bronckhorst |
18 May 2001
|
| Ruud
Dokter off to Quatar |
17 May 2001
|
| Former
Dutch national women's coach Ruud Dokter (no jokes you guys!) is off to
the Gulf state of Quatar to take over as coach of the national Under 18s -
he's had 15 years experience working for the Dutch FA (KNVB) as coach and
coaching instructor. |
| Italian
FA suspend Davids |
17 May 2001
|
| Edgar
Davids' has been banned by the Italian FA from turning out for his club
Juventus while they decide what his actual 'punishment' will be now that he
has twice tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone. It could
turn out to be lengthy suspension - the Portugese player Fernando Couto
received a 16 month ban last Monday for the same 'offence'!! |
| Jaap
Stam misses Estland match? |
16 May 2001
|
| Dutch
international defender Jaap Stam tore his hamstring during Manchester
United's friendly against Celtic on Tuesday and looks certain to Miss
Holland's important World Cup qualifier against Estland on June 2nd. It is
a severe blow to Oranje's attempt to gain a place in the tournament. |
| Rivaldo
asks Barça fans to back Kluivert |
16 May 2001
|
| Brazilian
star Rivaldo has asked Barcelona fans to stop booing, jeering and
barracking Patrick Kluivert over the rumours that he's leaving the
club.
He's worried that the Dutch international striker will be provoked into reallyng talks with another club and eventually leaving. Kluivert has
continually denied he's had any contact with Real Madrid, or any other
club, about a possible move to Barça's arch-rivals (as has Real's
president Florentino Perez). The pressure is mounting!! |
| English
bookies back Gullit for West Ham job |
16 May 2001
|
| The
odds to be had placing a bet on the likelihood of Ruud Gullit becoming the
new West Ham coach are now so favourable that the English bookies are
convinced he's the man who is most-likely-to-get-the-job. The last
time they saw the odds shift so clearly in favour of an individual was
just before Sven-Göran Eriksson got the English manager's job.
Gullit's agent has denied that there ha sbeen any contact with the London
club. |
| Less
nandrolone in Davids 2nd opinion test |
16 May 2001
|
| The
results of the 2nd opinion test in the Edgar Davids 'doping
affair' has shown a much lower level of the banned substance
nandrolone originally found, namely 2.7 nanogram per milliliter instead of
8. His club Juventus have not yet announced any steps to be taken against
the Dutch international and neither have the Italian FA. In the meantime
the 'affair' has unleashed a stream of 'expert opinions' on the
unreliability of the tests - some are claiming that the "higher"
levels of nandrolone could be caused by eating pork (from pigs which have
treated with the steroid), 'contaminated' dietary supplements or simply
from too much stress!! |
| Verdict
2nd opinion Davids doping tomorrow |
14 May 2001
|
| Kluivert
taunted in Barcelona-Rayo Vallecano |
14 May 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert has not made himself popular with the Barça fans and was
subjected to a deafening barrage of whistles every time he touched the
ball during yesterday's match against Rayo Vallecano. Since his dispute
with the club over new contract terms has escalated there have been
constant runours that he's threatening to depart to arch-rivals Real
Madrid (or Chelsea or -------....fill in your own choice of team). He's
been off-form in recent matches (I wonder why - could his mind be
elsewhere, on other things) and was substituted at half-time. Barcelona
had a healthy 5 - 1 win, with the help of 5 other Dutchmen, 2 goals from
Luis Enrique and one-a-piece from Rivaldo, Emmanuel Petit and Marc
Overmars. |
| Westerveld
and Liverpool win FA Cup |
12 May 2001
|
| Dutch
goalie Sander Westerveld has won a highly prized FA Cup medal with
Liverpool who beat Arsenal 2 - 1 in a packed Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.
Arsenal had dominated for most of the match but sloppy finishing meant it
took Swede Frederik Ljungberg's 70th minute goal to give them the
advantage. Two goals from Michael Owen, scored in the 83rd and the 87th
minutes, devastated the London team and give Liverpool a minor 'double' of
League and FA Cup (their 7th FA Cup victory). |
| Marciano
Vink goes to Ajax Cape Town |
12 May 2001
|
| Marciano
Vink has signed a contract with Ajax Cape Town for one season. The former
Ajax, Genoa and PSV player's career has been blighted by injury but,
during the last season, he has been keeping himself fit and ready for
professional action by playing amateur lfootball at ADO Den Haag. When
noone showed an interest in him he went to play for amateurs Lelystad
until the opportunity came his way to try-out for the South African
satellite club owned by Ajax and he's now going to get a taste of the
sunshine under English trainer Rob McDonald. |
| Rijsbergen
resigns at Universidad Catolica |
12 May 2001
|
| A
string of poor performances and a lack of support for his transfer policy
has forced Universidad Catolica trainer Wim Rijsbergen to resign his post.
The former Volendam, NAC and Groningen trainer went to the Santiago club
in March 1999 as head of training and took over as coach in December '99 . |
| De
Boer has all his 'medicines' analysed |
11 May 2001
|
| Frank
de Boer, at the centre of a 'doping'
affair, has asked Xendo
Laboratories in Groningen to analyse every pill, ointment, vitamin, and
even dental whitener, that he's used in recent months to try to find out
if any of them contains the banned steroid nandrolone. It will take
several months to complete all the tests so it's going to be long wait for
the reults which he hopes will shed light on the source of the
'contamination'. |
| Konterman
blames doping on Dutch beef |
10 May 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers' Bert Konterman has pointed the finger at Dutch beef as a possible
source of the banned steroid nandrolone found in the blood of Edgar Davids
and Frank de Boer. It is used by some farmers in Holland and is injected
into cows to enhance the 'quality' of the beef. It's a crazy world isn't
it where farm animals are being given more antibiotics than are used on
humans, while other growth stimulants are also used (often in the name of
medicine). All these lovely chemicals are then consumed by football
players (and other people) in the name of the fast and fat buck. I'm a
vegetarian, so I'm not at risk, and I advise anyone interested (including
the KNVB and Oranje people) to consider switching to organic meat (if
you've got to eat meat) as well as fruit and vegetables as the healthy
alternative (despite the propaganda going around, which always appears
when there's a food scandal, stating that it's still safer to eat
intensively farmed produce). |
| Jerrel
Hesselbaink gets two against Liverpool |
09 May 2001
|
| Jerrel
Hesselbaink scored two important goals last night as Chelsea snatched an
away point at Anfield Road against Liverpool. After Michael Owen had twice
put the hometeam ahead the Dutch striker replied with two of his own to
keep Chelsea in the running for a UEFA Cup place next season. |
| Bergkamp
ready for FA Cup Final |
09 May 2001
|
| Dennis
Bergkamp has declared himself ready for Saturday's FA Cup Final clash with
Liverpool. The 32 year-old ex-Dutch international has missed the last 9
Premiership games due to an achilles injury. He's convinced he'll be able
to play the full 90 minutes and wants to make good the past
disappointments - in 1999 he had to be substituted during the Final
against Newcastle (which Arsenal won 2 - 0) and missed a penalty against
Manchester United in the semi-final in 1999 (which they lost to the Reds
after a Ryan Giggs winner). |
| Johan
Boskamp off to Dubai |
09 May 2001
|
| Johan
Boskamp has signed a contract for two years to coach Dubai side Al Ahli.
The 52 year-old Rotterdammer has had a long and illustrious career as
player with the following clubs......
1959-1964 HOV Rotterdam, 1964-1969
Feyenoord, 1969-1970 Holland Sport, 1970-1974 Feyenoord, 1974-1982. He has
coached Lierse SK,
Denderhoutem, SK Beveren, KV Kortrijk, Anderlecht, AA Ghent, Dynamo
Tbilisi and the Georgian national team before returning to Belgium where
he won the Belgian FA Cup last season with Racing Genk (who sacked him in
December). |
| De
Boer in doping denial |
09 May 2001
|
| The
revelation that the Dutch captain Frank de Boer is the 2nd international
to test positive, after Edgar Davids earlier
failed for the same 'illegal hormone', has come as a shock to
football-land here in Holland (and elsewhere). The Barcelona player is
mystified how his blood became contaminated with the banned substance
nandrolone. This latest incident has added fuel to earlier insinuations
that both Davids and De Boer may have unwittingly been administered the
'drug' during preparations for recent World Cup qualifiers. The Dutch FA
(KNVB) is being very tight-lipped about the affair to date while others
are speculating that the nandrolone could have entered the players'
bloodstream via sporting dietary supplements. These are only available on
prescription in Holland but can be bought elsewhere over-the-counter. This
seems to point the finger of suspicion abroad - it could be just the start
of a series of revelations (accusations and counter accusations)! The
verdict of the 2nd opinion tests being carried out on Edgar Davids' blood
sample have been postponed while the Juventus player's appeal to be
represented by pharmacological expert from Rome's La Sapienza University
is heard by the courts. |
| Jordi
Cruijff lashes out at Alex Ferguson |
09 May 2001
|
| Jordi
Cruijff, talking to the English daily newspaper the Daily Telegraph, has placed the blame for his unhappy time at Manchester United firmly at Alex
Ferguson's door. He moved there from Barcelona in 1996 but had a lot of
injury problems in his first two years at Old Trafford. Once he'd
recovered full match fitness he couldn't, and still can't,
understand why, whenever he'd been called up and scored an important goal
for the team, that he would just as suddenly be dropped and not even
deserve a place on the bench. He ended up playing only 5 or 6 games a
season compared to his teammates' 25 to 30 which meant he never received a
Championship medal in his time at the club. Last summer he went
transfer-free to Alavés and has reached the UEFA Cup final with them
after only 34 first team appearances. Happier times! See
our profile of the man in Dutch abroad. |
| Frank
de Boer tests positive |
08 May 2001
|
| Frank
de Boer, and his agent Rob Cohen, have confirmed a report in Dutch daily
newspaper "De Telegraaf", that the Dutch international and
Barcelona player failed a drugs test which took place after the match
against Celta del Figo on March 15th. He becomes the 2nd Dutch
international to have tested positive in recent weeks after Edgar
Davids was earlier found to have the banned substance nandrolone in his
blood. There is now a growing suspicion (voiced earlier by
Juventus director Luciani Moggi) that the players unwittingly drank or ate
something during the preparations for recent World Cup qualifiers. Davids
tested positive four days after the friendly against Turkey and De Boer
four days after the match against Cyprus! They are the first Dutch
internationals to have failed drugs tests although, in the past, other
domestic players have been also been 'caught'. Although opinions seem to
be divided as to whether 'doping' is widespread in football (and indeed
whether players actually profit from its use at all) it would seem naive
to think that it doesn't happen. Is this going to be another
tip-of-the-iceberg story which will reveal more and more in the coming
weeks/months, is it just coincidence or are there more sinister
forces at work - we''ll keep you up to date. |
| Ed
De Goey to leave Chelsea? |
08 May 2001
|
| Chelsea's
chairman Ken Bates had warned that heads would roll at the end of a
decidedly poor season for the London Premier League side and now he's told
Sky Sports that Dutch goalie Ed de Goey is one of three players for the
chop (Frank le Boeuf and Albert Ferrer the others). Ruud Gullit brought
him to Stamford Bridge in 1997 but he's been an unhappy man on the bench
for some time under Rainieri, knows nothing about this latest development
and recently linked
to a possible return to Feyenoord.
Earlier this season Jerrel Hasselbaink had
been quoted as saying that the
team needed new, and younger, blood and that the lineup was starting to
look a little too long in the tooth. |
| Kluivert
confirms he's not signed for Real |
07 May 2001
|
| Barcelona's
Dutch international striker Patrick Kluivert has confirmed that he's not
signed any kind of pre-contract papers with Barça's arch-rival Real
Madrid (he's had no contact whatsoever with the club). In fact, although
he's threatening to talk to other clubs if his new contract-terms are not
met, he expects to remain at Camp Nou for some years to come. Barcelona
have been going through their worst season since he joined the club and
will have to fight to the last gasp if they are still to qualify for
Champions League football next season - they are currently 5th, 3 points
behind Real Mallorca who occupy the lowest of the Champions League
positions. |
| Kluivert
denies bonusses story |
05 May 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert has denied that he's been demanding special appearance- and
goal-bonusses from Barcelona in the negotiations for a new contract -
though the discussions are still ongoing regarding the salary. He's not
planning to move to Real Madrid either and could well be biding his time
at Camp Nou until the end of next season when he'll be transfer free and
can negotiate a megadeal. He's still being linked to a move to the English
Premier Leaague and it appears that his agent Sigi Lens has been talking
to Chelsea but it looks like the London club will have to wait till next
year. |
| FC
Jokerit sign Dutch defender Senol Kok |
04 May 2001
|
| Finnish
side FC Jokerit have signed Dutch defender Senol Kok as a replacement for
the injured veteran Aki Hyrylainen. The fact that he's left-footed makes
him the perfect addition (especially at such short notice) according to
trainer Jan Everse (yep! you guessed it....he's Dutch). The 22 year-old
former Deventer and Go Ahead Eagles player will make his debut in
next Wedneday's match against KuPS. |
| RBC's
Van Galen moves to Mechelen |
03 May 2001
|
| RBC's
Martijn van Galen is going to Belgian side KV Mechelen on a contract for 2
years. The 30 year-old striker was left out of the Rosendaal side earlier
this season because, according to trainer Robert Maaskant, he was having a
"bad" influence on the squad. He joins fellow Dutchmen Dave
de Jong and Eric
Viscaal at his new club. |
| Jan
Wouters moves to Glasgow Rangers |
02 May 2001
|
| It's
starting to look very "orange" at Glasgow Rangers now that
former international (70 caps) and ex-Ajax trainer Jan Wouters has joined
the club as assistant to Dick Advocaat. He's glad to be reunited with
Advocaat under whom he played in the 1994 World Cup in the USA and both
men worked together at PSV between 1994 and 1996. Rangers now have the
following Dutch names on their payroll - Arthur Numan, Ronald de Boer
(who'd like to see his brother Frank join him in Scotland if he falls out
of favour in Barcelona), Michael Mols, Bert Konterman, Giovanni van
Bronckhorst and Fernando Ricksen plus ass. trainer Bert van Lingen, youth
trainer Jan Derks and physician Gert-Jan Goudswaard!!! |
| Dijkhuizen
returns to Utrecht |
03 May 2001
|
| Marinus
Dijkhuizen is returning to Utrecht after being on loan at Scottish side
Dunfermline Athletic. He played 3 matches and scored 2 goals but coach
Jimmy Calderwood has decided not to make use of the option to buy the striker.
It probably has something to do with the fact that the Scottish club are
about to buy Jack de Gier from
NEC. |
| Kluivert
threatens to quit in contract dispute |
02 May 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert has threatened to quit Barcelona if the club don't meet his terms
for a new contract. He's demanding €3,98 million Euros per season plus
bonusses for appearances, goals, and titles while the club are only
offering €3,15 million Euros. The negotiations are stuck at the moment
and the star striker (he's scored 19 goals in 25 matches this season) has
already been in conflict with the departed trainer Serra Ferrer and has
made clear that he needs to know the identity of any new trainer before
signing. |
| Dundee's
Frank van Eijs returns to Holland |
01 May 2001
|
| Frank
van Eijs has decided to return to Holland now that his contract with
Scottish side Dundee United is not being extended. The 29 year-old had
fallen out of favour with manager Ivano Bonetti and spent most of this
season on the bench. |
| Jerrel
Hesselbaink stays with Chelsea |
29 Apr 2001
|
| Dutch
international striker Jerrel Hesselbaink has put an end to the stories
indicating he could be leaving Chelsea. He's been linked most recently to
Barcelona but wants to stay and help get the London club into Europe next
season (they need to win 2 of their last 4 matches). After that he wants
to see them back at the top, putting behind them a poor season by their
own high standards. The change of managers, Vialli replaced by Rainieri,
didn't encourage the kind of focus required to stay in the top 3 for the
duration of the tough premier season but the maverick goal-getter feels
that is where the club deserve to be and stay. See the full interview at
Onefootball.com.......http://www.onefootball.com/index.phtml?page=fullstory&country_id=33&newsid=81883 |
| Winston
Bogarde back in training |
28 Apr 2001
|
| Winston
Bogarde reports back for training at Chelsea next week for the first time
since injuring his knee 4 months ago and the defender hopes to get in a
game or two before the season closes. |
| Davids
issues categorical denial |
24 Apr 2001
|
| Edgar
Davids has denied categorically that he has used nandrolone. In a press
conference held this afternoon he stated that he has never, ever used
performance enhancing drugs. He's been tested on many occasions in the
past and never been accused of "cheating", can't understand why
he suddenly has tested positive and added that he respects his body too
much to use banned substances and doesn't understand sportspeople who
do. We now wait 8 days to hear the results of the '2nd opinion' test
(to be carried out by the same Rome laboratory who came with the bad news)
which, if it confirms the original findings, could lead to a ban and
possible prison sentence for the unhappy Davids. As we wrote
earlier, it's
ironic that the hormone nandrolone is banned by the International Olympic
Committee but not by FIFA. The world governing body of football refer to
research carried out among Swiss footballers which showed that it's
impossible to determine accurately whether nandrolone (which occurs
naturally in the body) has been introduced artificially or not. |
| Juventus
confirms Davids doping story |
24 Apr 2001
|
| Juventus
have confirmed that Edgar Davids has tested
positive for the banned hormone nandrolone. The Dutch international
midfielder has claimed that the nandrolone was a constituent of special
prescription eyedrops he uses (he has an eye complaint). However,
according to experts from the "Nederlands Centrum voor
Dopingsvraagstukken", it's a substance which wouldn't be found in
eyedrops. The muscle enhancing substance, which is banned by the
International Olympic Committee, is not on FIFA's list of "illegal
medications". This means that even if the results of the test are
confirmed, and he gets a ban/fine at UEFA level, Davids could still be
eligible for future Oranje matches (he misses tomorrow's against Cyprus
due to a suspension). It's a strange old world isn't it?? |
| Edgar
Davids accused of doping |
22 Apr 2001
|
| Juventus
and Dutch international Edgar Davids has been accused of using the banned hormone nandrolone. The Italian public broadcaster RAI has
released the news that the 28 year-old midfielder tested positive in a
random test after the March 4th match with Udinese. If the story turns out
to be correct he'll be the 8th player in the top two Italian divisions to
be caught using forbidden substances this season. Davids has said that the
nandrolone is a constituent of eyedrops that he takes on prescription, and
has done for some time (he doesn't wear those strange spectacles as a some
kind of fashion statement but, rather, to protect his eyes). |
| Michael
Mols continues fight to recover fitness |
20 Apr 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers' Michael Mols has repeated his intention to continue
his fight to recover his fitness. The 30 year-old striker was
injured 17 months ago in a clash with Bayern goalie Oliver Kahn and, since
then, has not been able to regain full match fitness. He's currently in
Holland following a new program designed to get the former Utrecht, Twente
and Cambuur Leuuwaarden player back to 100% fitness by next Christmas. We
wish him all the best! |
| Liverpool
beat 50% Dutch Barcelona in UEFA Cup |
20 Apr 2001
|
| Yeah,
ok, they're not a Dutch club, but with so many Dutch players in their
lineup it's difficult not to want to write something about them in such an
important match. Patrick Kluivert's handball just before halftime gave
Liverpool the chance to give the Kop something to get really excited
about. Barcelona had shown their obvious class throughout the 1st half -
Rivaldo hit a terrific late-dipping shot in the 8th minute from 40 meters which Westerveld only
just got the tips of his fingers to, Enrique hit one just wide - the
Catalans
looked in control most of the time. Liverpool were firing on all
cylinders, urged on by their fans with their musical chanting/singing -
their
lack of finesse more than made up for by their passion, their
counters always looking dangerous, with aerial assaults that were always worrying for the Spanish side. All in all an
entertaining match - and then that handsball!!!, what was Patrick
thinking??!! Liverpool threw up a defensive wall in the 2nd half and
managed to hang on till the final whistle to take them into their first
UEFA Cup final since 1976. |
| Jordi
Cruijff's Alaves meet Liverpool in UEFA Cup Final |
20 Apr 2001
|
| While
Liverpool were putting an end to Barcelona's UEFA Cup ambitions, Jordi
Cruijff's Alaves were adding insult to injury in Germany where they beat
Kaiserslautern 1 - 4 after the 5 - 1 win in Spain. It must give Jordi a
great feeling to enjoy such success, in only his first season for the
surprise team of the Spanish league, after suffering so many past disappointments. |
| Van
Ankeren rejoins Molenbeek |
19 Apr 2001
|
| Edwin
van Ankeren is moving from Italian side Viterbese, after
joining them in February, to his former club RWD Molenbeek (he played
for the Belgian side between 1991-1993). The 32 year-old striker moved to
PSV in 1993 but never settled, moving on via Belgian clubs Eendracht Aalst
and Germinal Ekeren to French 2nd Division side Guingamp. He's looking for
something to do before rejoining his old team and may spend a a few months
playing for the Norwegian side Odd Grenland. |
| Gerets
junior signs for MVV |
18 Apr 2001
|
| Johan
Gerets, son of PSV trainer Erik Gerets and currently playing for Belgian
side Club Brugge, has signed a contract with Toto-Divisionists MVV for two
years with an option on a third. Trainer Roger Reijnders expects much from
the 20 year-old central defender - "he's strong, fast and ruthless in
the man-to-mans". |
| Israël
and Schoenmaker to train Den Haag |
18 Apr 2001
|
| Jan
Portvliet's earlier offer to become the new trainer has been rejected
and, instead, Rinus Israël and Lex Schoenmaker will be returning to
Holland next season from the Arab Emirates (where they've been coaching,
respectively, Al Wahda and Al Jazira) to take
over as trainer and assistant trainer at ADO Den Haag. Israël
captained the Feyenoord side who won the old European Cup 1 in 1970
and has since coached Feyenoord, Den Bosch, Dynamo Bucharest, PAOK
Saloniki and Jong Oranje (the Dutch under 21's). |
| Davids
moves to Manchester United? |
14 Apr 2001
|
| Edgar
Davids could be turning out for Manchester United next season - his
representatives(s) have held meetings with the club after Chelsea and
Arsenal turned down the chance to meet the €79,000 Euros per week the
Juventus midfielder is currently asking for. |
| Return
to Feyenoord for Ed de Goey? |
13 Apr 2001
|
| The
English tabloid newspapers are speculating that Chelsea's Dutch goalie Ed
de Goey will be returning to his old club Feyenoord in the summer when
Polish international Jurek Dudek is said to be leaving. De Goey started
with Sparta ), played 7 years for the Rotterdammers before
moving to the London club in 1997 but has been on the bench since
December. |
| Benfica
pay Vitesse for P-Air |
11 Apr 2001
|
| Benfica
have transferred €5,8 million Euros to Vitesse's thirsty bank account.
It's not the full sum agreed to but chairman Vaessen said it was better
than having to spend lots more money in legal fees over the next 2 - 3
years in order to get the whole €7,5 million Euros back from the
Portugese. |
| Kluivert
hattrick saves point for Barcelona |
09 Apr 2001
|
| A
Patrick Kluivert hattrick saved Barcelona a point in their match against
Villareal - they'd gone 3 - 0 down after goals by Victor and Calleja.
Kluivert scored twice, Rivaldo added a 3rd to even the score but the Dutch
international had to score a 4th injury-time goal to grab a point for his
club after Villareal had once again gone ahead. |
| Bergkamp
misses Sunday's FA Cup semi-final |
06 Apr 2001
|
| Dennis
Bergkamp will miss Arsenal's FA Cup clash with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday
at Old Trafford due to an achilles injury. He's already missed the league
clash with Tottenham last weekend, the Champions League confrontation with
Valencia and looks likely to be unavailable for Wednesday's Premier match
against Manchester City. |
| Kluivert
repeats trainer warning |
06 Apr 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert has repeated his earlier warning that, despite his stated desire
to stay for many seasons (or moons) at Barcelona, everything will depend
on the name of the future trainer in Camp Nou. The 24 year-old has assured
Barcelona fans that this is the only thing stopping him from signing a new
contract with the Spanish side and money is definitely not
the issue. |
| Reiziger
wants to go to England |
06 Apr 2001
|
| Barcelona's
Michael Reiziger has announced on his website his intention to make
the move to the English Premier League next season. He's always wanted to
play for an English club and, now that he's already 28 years old, the time
has come to fulfill his dream before he's too 'old'. |
| Jordi
Cruijff scores as Alavés beat Kaiserslautern
5 - 1 |
06 Apr 2001
|
| Last
night's UEFA Cup semi-finals were disappointing affairs - Barcelona and
Liverpool failed to score in a less-than-thrilling match while Alavés
sailed through thanks to 4 penalties (one of which was put away by Jordi
Cruijff) which had seemingly a lot to do with the talent for penalty box
diving (maybe an idea for a new Olympic sport??). |
| Barcelona
miss Reiziger against Liverpool |
03 Apr 2001
|
| Barcelona
will have to face Liverpool in Thursday's UEFA Cup semi-final duel without
Michael Reiziger who tore a muscle in his right leg during Sunday's league
match against Las Palmas. |
| Van
Hooijdonk scores as Benfica draw |
01 Apr 2001
|
| Pierre
van Hooijdonk scored an equalizer 5 minutes before the final whistle to
snatch a point for Benfica in their away game against lowly
Campomaiorense. It takes his total so far this season to 17 goals while
Benfica are in 5th place. |
| Van
Bronckhorst under pressure |
28 Mar 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers' Giovanni van Bronckhorst is under pressure to decide whether he's
going to stay with the club. Chairman David Murray has said that if the 26
year-old doesn't extend his contract, which runs until 2002, then he can
start looking for a new club now. The midfielder has been hampered by
injuries and has only appeared 10 times for the Glaswegians this season.
Although Arsenal and Chelsea have shown interest Giovanni's still
thinking. |
| Melvin
Fleur signs with Anderlecht |
23 Mar 2001
|
| 19
year-old amateur talent and Amsterdammer Melvin Fleur has signed a
contract with Belgian club Anderlecht for 4 years. |
| Monkou
leaves Huddersfield |
23 Mar 2001
|
| After
not seeing any action for the last 5 months 36 year-old Kenneth Monkou is
to leave Huddersfield Town. The defender has played for Feyenoord,
Southampton and Chelsea, was lent out to Sheffield United without
success and will now have to reconsider his future. |
| Wim
Jonk out for rest of season |
22 Mar 2001
|
| Sheffield
Wednesday's Wim Jonk is out of action with a groin injury for the rest of
the season. The 34 year-old midfielder has only managed two appearances
for the English First Division side this year and, after he's been into
hospital for a scan, the Volendammer will be having a good hard think
about his future - what next? |
| Michael
Mols fights on |
22Mar 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers striker Michael Mols has put an end to speculation that he was
about to announce the end of his injury-hit career- he's NOT!!!. He was operated
in February on the knee that has been hampering him since he injured
it during the Champions League match against Bayern München in Novemnber
1999. |
| Hesselbaink
annoyed by "unhappy at Chelsea" story |
21 Mar 2001
|
| Jimmy
Hesselbaink has been venting his frustration and anger at the 'report' in
the Champions League magazine that he has been blaming Chelsea's lack of
success on the age of many teammates - he is himself 28 years old (and the
youngest in the Chelsea lineup). It seems he never gave an interview to
the magazine and they have added some 'spice' to an old interview given to
a Dutch maagazine last October. The Premier League's top scorer (18
goals) was also said to have been obviously disappointed to have made the
move from a club which was demoted (Atlético) to one 'without a future'. Hesselbaink
denies everything and says he couldn't be happier in London, that the team
have plenty of positive things going for them and that he has no
intentions of leaving. |
| Edwin
Vurens ends career |
19 Mar 2001
|
| One-time
international Edwin Vurens has put an immediate end to his career - he'd
been suffering for some time from groin problems and lowerback pain. The
32 year-old former Sparta, Twente, and Roda player has been playing in the
Swiss league for Servette (scoring twice in 12 games this season). In
total he scored 97 goals in 402 games. |
| Kluivert
goal not enough for Barcelona |
19 Mar 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert's beautifully executed goal in the 31st minute was not enough to
drag his sleepy looking teammates to victory. Rubén Navarro equalized in
the 61st for Numancia to deny Barca the full benefit of Deportivo and
Real's defeats. |
| Van
der Sar off to Barcelona? |
16 Mar 2001
|
| According
to reports in the Spanish press Dutch international Edwin van der Sar
could be close to signing for Barcelona. He went through a bad patch at
the beginning of the season, giving rise to rumours that Juventus might
sell him which didn't exactly go away when the Italians bought young
Uruguyan Fabián Carini at the beginning of this year. If he is sold it
will cost Barca €18 million Euros. |
| Bayern
want Davids |
16 Mar 2001
|
| Bayern
Munich are interested in snapping up the restless Edgar Davids, wanting to
leave Juventus. The 28 year-old will put them back a pretty penny, or
rather a mere €30 million Euros. |
| Jordi
Cruijff scores as Alavéz go through |
16 Mar 2001
|
| Jordi
Cruijff scored in the 15th minute to help his club Spanish side Alavés to
go through to the semi-final of the UEFA Cup in their first European
adventure. They in fact lost last night to Rayo Vallecano 2 - 1 but won
the 1st leg of the quarter-final tie 3 - 0. |
| Bergkamp
misses Bayern duel |
13 Mar 2001
|
| Dennis
Bergkamp will miss Arsenal's Champions League duel with Bayern München
tomorrow after picking up a hamstring injury in the FA Cup 3 - 0 win
against Blackburn Rovers last Saturday. |
| Van
Hooijdonk to make Oranje appearance? |
13 Mar 2001
|
| Pierre
van Hooijdonk could be getting a call from Louis van Gaal to join the
Oranje squad for the coming World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and
Portugal on March 24th and 28th. He's been secretly hoping for a chance to
show he's still got something to offer his country and, although he didn't
score in Benfica's defeat by Belenenses last weekend, he's done plenty of
goalscoring in recent weeks. |
| Arie
Haan takes over at Austria Wien |
13 Mar 2001
|
| Former
Feyenoord trainer Arie Haan has taken over as coach at Austria Wien, the
club where he earlier started work as
sports director. Club boss Frank Stronach has asked the former Omonia
Nicosia trainer to take over from the sacked Heinz Hochhauser, whom Haan
had problems working with. |
| Kluivert
scores twice as Barcelona beat Celta de Vigo |
09 Mar 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert scored both Barcelona goals last night as they beat Celta del
Vigo 2 - 1 in their quarter final UEFA Cup match. With 6 Dutch players in
the team - Kluivert, Overmars, De Boer, Zenden, Reiziger and Cocu -
the Catalonian side created plenty of chances and played an excellent 1st
half. Kluivert's 1st came after 13 minutes and, 10 minutes later when
Celta were reduced to 10 men (Brazilian Vágner got a red card), it looked
a simple question of how many Barca goals we could expect. The flood of
goals didn't come and it wasn't until the 56th that Kluivert got his 2nd.
Celta held their own and looked dangerous in the counters which led to a
goal by Pablo Coira in the 69th. In fact Barca were lucky that their
opponents didn't get another during the closing minutes. The return should
be a scorcher! |
| Top
scoring Hesselbaink helps Chelsea to rare away win |
08 Mar 2001
|
| Chelsea
won 2 - 0 away at West Ham's Upton Park last night in the club's first
away win since April last year. Jerrel Hesselbaink scored a magnificent
curling distance shot in the 38th minute after Eidur Gudjohsend the
score in the 32nd. He is now the Premier League's top scorer with 16 goals
to his name (one more than Arsenal's Thierry Henry and Ipswich Town's
Marcus Stewart), while Chelsea climb to 8th place. |
| Kluivert
- will he stay or will he go? |
07 Mar 2001
|
| In
the wake of the recent friction between Patrick Kluivert and Barcelona's
trainer Serra Ferrer there have been stories in the Spanish press
suggesting that arch rivals Real Madrid could be interested in buying the
Dutchman this summer. It would take €34,13 million Euros to buy out his
contract but Barca's president Joan Gaspart has said that there have been
frank discussions with the striker, he wants to stay at the club and they
will be offering him a new contract - but if he changes his mind in the
coming months and decides it's time to go it will be difficult stopping
him. |
| Niels
Oude Kamphuis returns after long absence |
07 Mar 2001
|
| Schalke
04's Niels Oude Kamphuis is set to return to duty after a long absence.
He's been out of action with an achilles problem since October 28th and
underwent surgery in January to deal with the injury. It's expected that
trainer Huub Stevens will field the 23 year-old midfielder in Saturday's
match between the Bundesliga's No.3 team and Eintracht Frankfurt. |
| Alex
Pastoor ends career |
07 Mar 2001
|
| Austria
Lustenau's Alex Pastoor is to make this his last season of professional
football. The 34 year-old started at Volendam in the 1989/1990 season,
moving on to Heerenveen in 1994, Belgian club Harelbeke in March 1997 and
in 1999 went to his current club. He is going to start work next season as
youth trainer at AZ. |
| Dutch
duo help Al Wahda to Arab Emirate title |
06 Mar 2001
|
| Former
Feyenoorder 58 year-old Rinus
Israel and ex Fortuna player and trainer Tinus Ruys (currently trainer and
assistant trainer) have helped their team Al Wahda to the Arab Emirate
title - there are still two matches to be played in the league but noone
else can catch them now and they are assured of the championship. |
| Operation
keeps Van der Gouw out for a month |
06 Mar 2001
|
| Manchester
United's reserve goalie Raimond van der Gouw will shortly undergo an
operation for a knee cartilage problem which he picked up during training
3 weeks ago. He expects to be out of action for a month and his place on
the bench during tonight's Champions League match against Panathinaikos
will be taken by the young American 19 year-old Paul Rachubka. |
| Van
Bronckhorst injured again |
05 Mar 2001
|
| Giovanni
van Bronckhorst will be a disappointed and frustrated man after injuring
his groin again in last Saturday's match between Glasgow Rangers and Heart
of Midlothian. It was his first league appearance in five months - he was
injured in Holland's match against Cyprus at the beginning of October. |
| Half
century for Kluivert in tonight's Turkey friendly |
28 Feb 2001
|
| After
the commotion created by his comments last week,
which seemed to cast a shadow over his future with Barcelona, Patrick
Kluivert will be glad to have the opportunity to celebrate something
tonight - namely his 50th appearance for Holland! It will also be his 21st
consecutive international appearance! He proved again at the weekend that
he is a striker to be reckoned with, scoring twice for Barcelona in their
3 - 0 win over Real Sociedad. Holland and Turkey have met 6 times before
with both teams winning two matches, losing twice and drawing twice (the
last time on October 11th 1999 was a draw). |
| Michael
Mols needs more surgery |
26 Feb 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers' striker Michael Mols is to be operated on in Amsterdam this week
for a chronic problem with his right knee. He picked up the injury during
the Champions League match against Bayern München in October 1999 and has
been struggling ever since. |
| Konterman
scores matchwinner for Rangers |
24 Feb 2001
|
| Bert
Konterman scored a great free-kick goal and match winner for Glasgow
Rangers against Dundee United. The 30 year-old defender curled in the ball
in the 75th minute for the only goal of the match. Dundee's Argentinian
star missed a great chance in the 1st half and a penalty in the 2nd. |
| Jordi
Cruijff gets goal as Alaves reach quarter finals |
23 Feb 2001
|
| Jordi
Cruijff, son of Johan, scored with a distance-blast in his team's UEFA Cup
2 - 0 away win over giants Internazionale. The shock victory means the
club have reached the quarter finals in their first European adventure.
They go on to meet the other Spanish surprise Rayo Vallecano who beat
Bordeaux in most convincing fashion with 3 goals in the last 15 minutes. |
| Patrick
Kluivert in serious reverse mode |
21 Feb 2001
|
| Patrick
is in serious reverse mode after the press "speculated' on his
leaving Barcelona on the basis of his comments/answers to questions during
a widely reported press conference on Tuesday. It was clear to those
present that he was not happy at the club right now and that he had
'problems' with current trainer Serra Ferrer. Or maybe the assembled
journalists were receiving garbled translations?? Anyway he's now trying
to put everything back in perspective before anymore damage is
done/feelings are hurt. Funny, I seem to remember writing a
story about him wanting to try his luck in the English Premiership a
while back, or was I dreaming. Pierre van Hooijdonk also made similar
comments some time ago when things were looking pretty bad for him at
Benfica (he certainly had plenty to moan about - what with not getting
paid, knowing the club hadn't paid his old club Vitesse for his transfer,
not getting much, or the right kind of action. It's natural to expect
players to start looking around when the going gets rough, and there's
more than a fair number of footballers who have 'problems' communicating
with their trainers (and I don't mean language barriers). So this kind of
media fuelled event/news item comes as little surprise - it probably
serves as a little extra advertising for all concerned, after all any
publicity is better than no publicity (not that a club of Barcelona's
stature goes short on that front). Still, it seems a bit weak for
Mr.Kluivert to blame others for speculating on what the consequences (or
message behind) his comments could have for his future with the club
(perhaps he should simply have avoided attending the press-conference?!)
and is another reminder of the often volatile nature of relationships
behind the scenes. This is one of the pitfalls inherent in footballers
getting so much media exposure and the 'damage' control we're seeing now
is as transparent as anywhere else in modern image-obsessed life. My final comment - there's no smoke
without fire! |
| Patrick
Kluivert could leave Barcelona |
20 Feb 2001
|
| Patrick
Kluivert has been quoted as saying that he would consider leaving Barcelona if the new
trainer, when announced, turns out to be a name he can't work with. He has
had some conflicts in Spain with trainer Serra Ferrer and if Fabio Capello steps
into the job that would be a problem too - the Dutch international left AC
Milan because he didn't fit into Capello's two striker system - so a move
could be on the cards. His contract runs until 2002 and the club are
trying to interest him in extending his stay but Patrick has made it clear
he's going to have to see that name before he signs anything! |
| Melchiot
extends Chelsea contract |
20 Feb 2001
|
| Mario
Melchiot has extended his contract with Chelsea for another 2 years and is
signed up till 2004. The 24 year-old defender moved to the London club in
1999 after 3 seasons with Ajax and plays at Stamford Bridge alongside
fellow Dutchmen Ed de Goey and Jerrel Hasselbaink. See
Dutch Abroad for our profile or click here! |
| Winston
Bogarde's season over early |
18 Feb 2001
|
| Winston
Bogarde has not exactly been having a great time since making the move to
Chelsea, seeing action on only 9 occasions, injury and being out of favour
with trainer Claudio Rainieri. He tore ligaments in his left knee during
training last month and, although happy that an operation's unnecessary,
the injury will keep him out action for the rest of the season. |
| P-Air
worth his weight in gold to Benfica |
17 Feb 2001
|
| Pierre
van Hooijdonk is currently worth his weight in gold to Benfica. He scored
the 1st half equalizer against Estrêla Amadora in the 23rd minute from a
freekick and was the provider of the 2nd half match winner for the
Portugese side, killing a ball dead and giving it to Joäo Tomás to put
away. When he left the field minutes before the final whistle he was even
given a standing ovation by the Estrêla fans. Despite all the hassle
surrounding his transfer to Benfica, and the less than royal treatment
he's received in his first months there, he's continued to play the kind
of football he's reknowned for and is now
the liga's top scorer with 16 goals to his name. |
| Jaap
Stam stays at Old Trafford till 2006 |
16 Feb 2001
|
| Dutch
international Jaap Stam has signed up till 2006 with Manchester United and
sees his pay go up to €77,140 Euros a week (equalling Roy Keane) but
still lagging behind David Beckham on a minimum of €111,180 Euros. |
| Ronald
de Boer out for 8 weeks |
14 Feb 2001
|
| Ronald
de Boer is out of action for the next 8 weeks after getting some treatment
for a problem with the meniscus in his left knee (something
he's had
problems with during his time with Ajax and Barcelona). He'll miss
Holland's friendly against Turkey on February 27th and the World Cup
qualifiers against Andorra and Portugal in March. It's also ruined his
first season with Glasgow Rangers, so he's not a happy man. |
| Overmars
misses AEK Athene
match |
10 Feb 2001
|
| Marc
Overmars will miss Thursday's UEFA Cup meeting with AEK Athene after
picking up a muscle injury in the 7-0
win against Athletic Bilbao last weekend. He'll also miss the
Primera division match against Racing Santander and the clash with
Deportivo La Coruña. |
| Westerveld
stays with Liverpool |
09 Feb 2001
|
| Liverpool's
Sander Westerveld has signed a new contract with the club until 2005,
putting an end to speculation that he might be leaving the Reds following
a story that the club was interested in buying Coventry City's goalie
Chris Kirkland. The 26 year-old international and former Vitess goalie
has also denied rumours that Ajax were showing an interest in him. |
| Roy
Makaay's injury not so bad after all |
08 Feb 2001
|
| The
good news for Deportivo, and fans of Roy Makaay, is that his knee
injury is not any where near as bad as feared and he'll be back in action
real
soon. He'll miss this weekend's match against Real Sociedad but is
expected to play in next week's Champions League contest with Galatasaray. |
| Stam
signs till 2007 with Manchester United |
06 Feb 2001
|
| Dutch
international defender Jaap Stam has signed a contract that will
keep him
with Manchester United until 2007. The 28 year-old had already
indicated
his wish to end his career at Old Trafford and will earn a cool €78,000
Euros a week while doing so! He moved to the Premier League in
1998 after
the World Cup in France, has played 71 times and scored once, helping them
to win the "Treble" - Champions League, FA Cup and League
Champions in 1999. |
| Rijkaard
turned down Parma job |
06 Feb 2001
|
| The
former Dutch international and national coach (he resigned at the end of
Euro 2000) Frank Rijkaard was offered the coaching post at Parma last
week. He'd already turned the job down at the beginning of January when
Alberto Malesani was sacked and, now that Arrigo Sacchi is having to step
down for health reasons, Rijkaard was asked again if he would consider
stepping in. He has again refused, for him it's a matter of principle - he
doesn't want to start with a new squad in midseason, it doesn't work well
for either coach or players. If they were to ask him to start at the
beginning of next season it would be different, and he'd be interested, he
told the Dagblad de Limburger. |
| Roy
Makaay out for at least a month |
06 Feb 2001
|
| Roy
Makaay has injured ligaments in his knee during Deportivo's match
against Santander last
Sunday and will probably be out of action for at least the next few weeks,
if not longer. He goes into hospital for exploratory surgery this week -
at first it looked as if it wasn't too
serious but it is feared he could
be out for some time again. He got both his team's goals in their
2-1 win and has scored 10 times in 14 games (9 in the last 9) since
coming
back from injury in December (he'd been out with an injury picked up
during EURO 2000). |
| Van
Bronckhorst makes return from injury |
05 Feb 2001
|
| Giovanni
van Bronckhorst makes his return today (happens to be his birthday too) in
his first match since becoming injured during preparation for the Oranje
match against Portugal last October. The Dutch international will
play in
a match for under-23s and his club Glasgow Rangers (for whom he's scored 6
times in the 17 games he played this season) will undoubtedly be hoping to
see him match fit as soon as possible. |
| Dutch
foursome give Barcelona 7 - 0 victory |
04 Feb 2001
|
| The
Dutch contingent at Barcelona, Patrick Kluivert, Philip Cocu, Frank
de Boer and, especially, Marc Overmars had their hand in all the goals
scored
against Athletic de Bilbao. They gave a fine demonstration of Dutch
football at its best - sharp, attacking combinations - Cocu and Overmars
served Enrique up with his first goal in the 6th, Kluivert did the hard
work to allow Enrique his 2nd in the 25th and, a minute later, Kluivert
was there again to give Cocu the chance to make it 3 - 0. Frank de Boer's
terrific pass gave Abelardo the 4 - 0, by which time the Bilbao defence
was in tatters. Overmars was in tremendous form down the wing and he gave
Enrique theng for his hattrick 5 - 0. Cocu made it 6 - 0, with a
little help from his Dutch friends Cocu and De Boer. This was all in the
1st half - the 2nd having little of the same kind of action. Barcelona
took it easy, Kluivert couldn't quite get one in and Overmars got the 7th
after a swerving run from the left and a low, right-footed shot into the
net. Barça have now gone 17 games without a defeat and are 2nd behind
Real Madrid, with 40 points from 21 games, 5 points behind the leaders who
have a game in hand. |
| John
Mols gets goal in Rangers' win |
04 Feb 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers won their match against Dundermline Athletic thanks to a
goal from
John Mols - he scored in the last sixty seconds after Tuglay put
way the
first in the 28th minute. |
| Bergkamp
gets Gunners' winner |
04 Feb 2001
|
| Dennis
Bergkamp got the only goal in Arsenal's away game against Coventry City to
give them their first away win in three months. He headed in the
winner in
the 78th minute. |
| Advocaat
criticises Scottish FA plan for wage ceiling |
03 Feb 2001
|
| Glasgow
Rangers trainer/coach has criticised the Scottish FA's plan to introduce a
limit to players' wages to try to do something about the huge debts being
built up at many Scottish clubs. Advocaat says that it's essential to be
able to pay high/higher wages to attract the calibre of players needed
to
maintain/improve the level of football. He also criticises the FA for not
investing enough in youth academies, pointing out that money and effort
should be spent on encouraging home grown talent, then it wouldn't be
necessary to import expensive players. Rangers' wage bill is €47,190,000
Euros - in comparison Heart of Midlothian's is €7,850,000 Euros, they
are in debt to the tune of €6,260,000 Euros and Aberdeen's losses are
€5,810,000 Euros and Motherwell's €5,170,000 Euros. Not exactly
peanuts and the FA has advised clubs not to spend more than 79% of their
budget on wages - some are paying out more than 90%!!! |
| Van
Ankeren moves to Viterbese |
03 Feb 2001
|
| The
former PSV striker 32 year-old Edwin Van Ankeren is to move from his
present club, French side Guingamp, to Viterbese. After undergoing an
operation for an ankle injury late last year he's not been able to get
back into the team and will be the 3rd Dutchman to go to the Serie-C
Italian club. He previously turned out for FC Zwolle,PSV, SK Beveren, RWD
Molenbeek, Eendracht Aalst and Germinal Ekeren. His compatriots have not
lasted long in Italy, Jerry Linger (a respected striker for amateur side
FC Lisse) lasted 2 days and Harry
van der Laan's move last November lasted until the first practice
match, after which he decided his physical condition wasn't up to another
season's football and he ended his career there and then. |
| Ronald
de Boer injures knee |
30 Jan 2001
|
| The
Glasgow Rangers de Boer, Ronald has injured his left knee in last
Saturday's match against Brechin City. It's the same knee he's had
problems with before and, although he's already undergone a medical
examination, it's unclear just how bad the injury is. In any case it hurts
a lot and he won't be playing on Wednesday against Aberdeen - he'll be
sorely missed.! |
| Frank
de Boer to
end career at Barcelona |
10
Jan 2001
|
| Frank
de Boer would like to end his playing days in Spain and has told Barcelona
that he is ready to extend his contract until 2004. The 30 year-old
Captain of Oranje came to the club in January 1999 from Ajax, where he was
involved in a legal wrangle over his contract. His twin brother Ronald
went with him but couldn't secure a regular place in the team and left for
Scotland's Glasgow Rangers |
| Van
der Gouw waiting to extend contract with Man United |
24 Jan 2001
|
| Man
United's Dutch goalie Raymond van der Gouw is still waiting for the club
tonegotiations on a contract extension. The 37 year-old is
considering a move to North American Major League Soccer if the Mancunians
are not interested in keeping him at the club. Since the departure of Mark
Bosnich to Chelsea his place looked secure and the club seem happy with
him so he's hoping things will be settled a.s.a.p., his options remainthough, just in case. |
| Benfica
win thanks to Pierre van Hooijdonk |
23 Jan 2001
|
| The
former Vitesse striker Pierre van Hooijdonk scored both goals in Benfica's
win against arch rivals FC Porto. The Dutch international (who still
hasn't been paid for!) scored from the penalty spot halfway through the
first half. Capucho drew Porto level just before halftime, leaving P-Air
to get the match winner in the 80th. Benfica are now in 4th place, three
points behind Porto in 2nd. |
| Seedorf
victim of Lazio racist taunts |
21 Jan 2001
|
| Clarence
Seedorf is the latest victim of the right wing hard core element the
'Ultras' at Rome's Lazio. During Inter's away match in Rome he was
continually called all kinds of nasty things by the ultra-nasty,fascist
thugs who are a blot on Lazio and football in general. The home side won
2-0 thanks to Hernan Crespo and Marcelo Salas, remaining top of the
league while Inter are struggling in 12th place with 18 points from 15
matches after their 5th defeat of the season. Isn't time the Romans kicked
out the parasites in their midst? |
| De
Boer gets Barcelona match winner |
21 Jan 2001
|
| Frank
de Boer scored a blistering goal from 30 meters in the 7th minute to give
Barcelona a much needed away victory over Valencia in their chase for the
Spanish title. Their win put an end to the 'Valencia jinx' afflicting them
since they lost to their rivals in both the domestic league and the
Champions League last season. Oranje's captain also broke the unbroken
home record Valencia have enjoyed since January 23rd last year and put his
team into 2nd place in the Primera Division with 36 points from 19 games
compared to Real Madrid's 38 from 17. |
| Cocu
to end career with Barcelona |
19 Jan 2001
|
| Dutch
international midfielder Philip Cocu has signed up for another 2 years
with Barcelona, saying he'd like to round off his playing career at the
Spanish club. The 30 year-old arrived on a free transfer deal from PSV in
1998 and proved to be a most versatile player and the best buy Louis van
Gaal made while at the club - if you want him he's worth a cool €61,9
million Euros. It looks as though he's ready to go another 4 or 5 years
before packing it in. |
| De
Gooey fights for place in goal at Chelsea |
19 Jan 2001
|
| Chelsea's
Ed de Gooey has a fight on his hands now that 29 year-old Australian Mark
Bosnich has left Manchester United and signed a contract for three and a
half years with the London club. De Gooey has currently been dropped by
trainer Claudio Rainieri from the 1st team lineup in favour of the young
Italian Carlo Cudicini. Bosnich found himself on the shelf at Old Trafford
after the arrival of Frenchman Fabien Barthez and had to accept that he'd
become 3rd choice (Raymond van der Gouw being the preferred reserve
keeper). |
| Liverpool's
Westerveld fires warning shot |
18 Jan 2001
|
| The
Dutch national squad's no.2 goalie Sander Westerveld has warned Liverpool
that he is not planning to make way if they sign Coventry City's Chris
Kirkland. The club is rumoured to be willing to fork out €11 million
Euros for the keeper but Westerveld is saying that (despite committing
some blunders earlier in the season) as long as he's still got a contract
he's not going to give way to any newcomer. |
| Advocaat
threatens to leave |
17 Jan 2001
|
| The
Dutch coach at Scotland's Glasgow Rangers, Dick Advocaat, has said he is
prepared to leave the club, before his contract runs out in 2002, if
that's what the fans and/or boss David Murray want. Rangers are 3rd in the
Scottish Premiership and 12 points behind arch rivals Celtic. He takes
responsibility for the bad start to the season, which cost them (too) many
vital league points, but feels that there were understandable contributing
factors in the team's poor performances back then. They are now gearing up
in practice for a renewed assault on the title when they return from their
winter camp in Florida. Since coming to the club the team have made it
back into European competitions, something which didn't happen under
Graham Souness and Walter Smith, and he understands now the reputation
fans of the Old Firm have for high expectations and being being 'hard' on
the team and coach if things go 'wrong'. Time will tell! |
| Bergkamp
signs up for two more years |
16 Jan 2001
|
| Arsenal's
former Dutch international striker Dennis Bergkamp has extended his
contract with the club until 2003. The 31 year-old began his career under
the Dutch master Johan Cruijff at Ajax, went to Inter Milan together with
Wim Jonk but never managed to get into gear in Italy. He went to London's
'The Gunners' in 1995 where he felt much more at home and did so well on
English soil that he was awarded the "Best Foreign Player in the
Premier Division Award". He says, on his own web site, that this
is probably the last contract he will sign and is happy to end his on
pitch career in the Premier League. |
| Stam
stays with Man United till the end |
15 Jan 2001
|
| Dutch
international defender 28 year-old Jaap Stam has stated on Manchester
United's web site that he wants to play out the rest of his footballing
career at Old Trafford. A move to another club would not be a footballing
improvement
and he feels as if 'history' is currently being written in Manchester. The
former PSV player has just made his first appearance for the team in their
3-0 win against bottom of the table Bradford after recovering from an
achilles injury. He wants to go
all the way now with the Mancunians and is currently negotiating an extension
of his existing contract. |
| Patrick
Kluivert scores in Barcelona win |
14 Jan 2001
|
| Barcelona
and Dutch international striker Patrick Kluivert scored theng goal
for the Spanish side in a match where they were reduced to 9 men.
Opponents Real Valladolid were unable to take advantage of Abelardo's red
card and allowed Guardiola and Rivaldo to
clinch victory in the last minute of the game. |
| Pierre
van Hooijdonk gets 3 for Benfica |
14 Jan 2001
|
| Dutch
international and Benfica striker Pierre van Hooijdonk scored 3 goals in
the club's 5-1 win against Desportivo Aves. He scored in the 18th, 51st
and 67th minute. Benfica remain 6 points behind league leaders FC Porto. |
| Roberto
Hagen signs with SC Kriens |
13 Jan 2001
|
| Ex-PSV
defender Roberto Hagen has signed up with Swiss 1st division side SC
Kriens. He's been without a club for the last 6 months although he'd had
trials with Dordrecht '90 and Israeli club Maccabi Haifa. The 28 year-old
is glad to have a new club to play for and one which, he says, has found a
rich former Zurich sponsor with ambitions to see the club rise quickly
over the next 2 years. |
| Patrick
Kluivert wants to play in England |
09 Jan 2001
|
| The
Barcelona and Dutch international striker Patrick Kluivert has said that
he would like to play for an English club in the future. The move by
ex-Ajax and Barcelona colleague Jari Litmanen to Liverpool has prompted
Patrick to express his desire to try out the Premier League at some point.
It's unlikely to happen in the near future as he negotiating with
Barcelona for a new contract - his present one runs for another
year. |
| Pierre
van Hooijdonk helps Benfica to victory |
08 Jan 2001
|
| The
Dutch international and former Vitesse striker Pierre van Hooijdonk scored
the winning goal (in the 82nd) for the Portugese club Benfica in their
away win at Salguieros. |
| Dutch
Barcelona beat Real Oviedo 2 - 3 |
08 Jan 2001
|
| There
were five Dutch players in the team that won away at Real Oviedo
(Kluivert, Cocu, Reiziger, Overmars and Frank de Boer) and another on the
bench (Boudewijn Zenden). Barcelona were already 2 goals up in the first
15 minutes (courtesy of Kluivert and Rivaldo) and looked as they would go
home with an easy win, especially when Kluivert headed in a 3rd in the 2nd
half. The home team fought back with two goals in quick succession (64th
and 67th minutes) to give them hope but, despite five near misses in the
closing stages, they couldn't close the gap. |
| Van
der Sar gets Uruguyan competition |
04 Jan 2001
|
| The
Dutch international and Juventus goalie Edwin van der Sar can expect to
fight for his 1st team place now that the Italian club have bought the
young 21 year-old Uruguyan international Fabian Carini. Although Van der
Sar says that coach Ancelotti has guaranteed his place as 1st choice in
the team, Carini has already built quite a reputation for himself and
could well put the squeeze on the Dutchman. |
| Hasselbaink
scores winner for Chelsea |
02 Jan 2001
|
| The
Dutch international striker Jerry Hasselbaink scored Chelsea's winning
goal at the weekend in their match against Aston Villa. Jerry (making his
return after a suspension) struck in the dying seconds of the 1st half,
giving the London club their 8th win of the season. He was joined by Mario
Melchiot in Chelsea's lineup, while Ed de Gooey sat the match out on the
bench (after his poor performance last week against Ipswich) and Winston
Bogarde didn't even make it into the ground as substitute. |
| Van
Hooijdonk wants return to Premiership |
29 Dec 2000
|
| The
unhappy Benfica striker and Dutch international
Pierre van Hooijdonk has expressed his desire to return to English
Premiership football. He is disappointed in his Portugese experience,
complaining about the style and level of football played and the lack of
opportunity to show his qualities in Lisbon. His critical broadside got
him into trouble with the bosses in recent days. Since his arrival last
summer there have been problems with wages and the transfer fee still owed
Vitesse. Newcastle's Bobby Robson has been showing interest, receiving a
polite "no", and Feyenoord and PSV would love to have him but
Benfica seem to want to hold onto him for the time being. Perhaps they
have something new in mind for P-Air if, and when, they are able to get
Mario Jardel's papers sorted out and he joins the squad from Turkish club
Galatasaray. |
| Bergkamp
- to sign or not to sign new contract |
22 Dec 2000
|
| The
Arsenal and former Dutch international Dennis Bergkamp is having a long,
hard think before signing a new contract with Arsenal. With so many
strikers in the squad (Thiery Henry, Sylvain Wilford and Nwankwo Kanu)
he's only played 5 full matches for the club this season. He's not keen on
being a substitute and at 31 years of age will be making a difficult
choice this Christmas - he has 4 days to sign or the deal on offer is
off. |
| Ricksen
gets 2 match ban for kicking Aberdonian |
19 Dec 2000
|
| The
Glasgow Rangers and Dutch international defender Fernando Ricksen is to be
banned on the basis of video footage (the first time film evidence has
lead to a player being suspended by the Scottish FA) showing him kicking
opponent Darren Young in the match against Aberdeen. He already has a red
card and, together with this one, means he will have to sit out the next 2
games. |
| Bryan
Roy leaves Bertha |
19 Dec 2000
|
| The
former Nottingham Forest, Ajax and Dutch international Bryan Roy is
leaving Hertha BSC earlier than expected. His contract runs until the end
of the season but he, and the club, have decided to call it a day. The 30
year old winger never managed to secure himself a solid place in the first
team, being regarded by trainer Jürgen Röber as too defensive and not
strong enough in man to man encounters. He's hoping to find a nice club in
Holland.... |
| Rangers
sues KNVB over van Bronckorst injury |
13 Dec 2000
|
| Glasgow
Rangers is to sue the Dutch FA (KNVB) for damages as a result of the
injury midfielder Giovanni van Bronckhorst picked up during training,
while Oranje was preparing for last October's match against Cyprus. The
Scottish club, currently coached by Dutchman Dick Advocaat, is asking
compensation to the tune of 900,00 Euros. |
| Erik
Meijer returns to Bundesliga |
11 Dec 2000
|
| The
Dutch Liverpool striker 31 year-old Erik Meijer is set to return to German
football. He played for Bayern Leverkusen between 1996 and 1999, leaving
after refusing terms for a new contract. Before that he played for KFC
Uerdingen in the Bundesliga as well as Fortuna, MVV and PSV in Holland.
His current club in England, Liverpool, had hired him out to Preston North
End until January, so he's probably pleased with the move closer to home. |
| Hasselbaink
to go to Barcelona in rumoured swap? |
08 Dec 2000
|
| The
Chelsea and Dutch international striker Jerry Hasselbaink may be going to
Spain in a dramatic "we'll swap you either Petit or Dani and Zenden
or maybe Kluivert and give you a large wad of money" deal! It
is rumoured, by behind the scenes sources at Chelsea, that Hasselbaink is
unhappy with the club's lack of success this season and with the backroom
upheavals since new manager Rainieri's arrival at Stamford Bridge. On the
other hand....it all seems to depend on who has your ear in the world of
soccer gossip.....we'll let you know how it all pans out in the coming
days...until then don't believe everything you see and hear will you? |
| Bogarde
denies move story |
05 Dec 2000
|
| The
Chelsea player and Dutch international Winston Bogarde has denied rumours
that he is set to leave Chelsea only 3 months after arriving transfer free
from Barcelona.
Although he has not yet earned himself a permanent place in the 1st eleven
he says he is fully prepared to work hard to make it happen. For the time
being another change of club is out of the question. |
| Hasselbaink
scores for Chelsea - Bogarde wants to go |
04 Dec 2000
|
| The
Dutch international striker Jerry Hasselbaink scored Chelsea's 2nd goal in
their 2-1 win over Manchester City as the rumour circulates that newly
arrived Winston Bogarde is already thinking of leaving the club where he
has not been able to see on pitch action. |
| Chelsea
want Davids |
26 Nov 2000
|
| The
money they got for Tor Andre Flo's sale must already be burning a hole in
their pocket because Chelsea are looking at the possibility of persuading
Edgar Davids to move to Stamford Bridge. Mr.Davids (unsettled in Italy and
keen on the English Premier League) has a preference for Arsenal, but
they're unlikely to cough up the kind of cash such a move will generate so
close to possible changes in the transfer system. Their south London
rivals have already been making the usual inquiries and we will
undoubtedly be telling you more in the near future on this little
flirtation. |
| Hasselbaink
sees red |
25 Nov 2000
|
| The
Chelsea striker and Dutch international Jerrel "Jerry"
Hasselbaink got a red card in the match at Everton for felling an opponent
with an elbow jab - apparently without reason. Maybe he's in the
mood after collecting one for Holland against Spain recently. |
| Benfica
owe Ajax for Dani |
24 Nov 2000
|
| It
seems that not only do Benfica owe Vitesse for Pierre van Hooijdonk but
they also owe Ajax money for Dani's move to Portugal last summer - ca. 1
million Euros! |
| 50%
Dutch Barcelona beat Brugge 0 - 2 |
24 Nov 2000
|
| With
a team still struggling to find true consistency, and half of which is
Dutch, Barcelona beat Brugge 0-2. De Boer and Kluivert suffered the
Belgian supporters taunts. Kluivert was working really hard up front and
in back. Cocu had a really good match and Frank de Boer was standing his
ground against the tireless Brugge whose hard work wasn't rewarded.
Reiziger and Overmars weren't quite up to par and will have to watch out
if the rumours about cutbacks in the Dutch camp are to be believed. |
| Dutch
Duo help Ipswich Town to win |
21 Nov 2000
|
| Martijn
Reuser's injury time pass allowed his fellow countryman Fabian Wilnis to
score in Ipswich's win over Coventry City on Saturday, lifting them into joint 4th
place alongside Liverpool in the English Premier Division. |
| Vitesse
wants money from Benfica - what about P-Air? |
21 Nov 2000
|
| The
Portugese club Benfica were conspicuously unrepresented during the court
hearing in Holland dealing with the non-payment to Vitesse of the transfer fee for Pierre van Hooijdonk's sale last Summer.
Benfica now want to renegotiate the deal in the light of P-Air's age and
disappointing performance so far. It has, of course, nothing
to do with the fact that they want to buy Brazilian Mario Jardel from
Turkish side Galasataray and want to do a swap-deal using P-Air as part of
the package. Jardel has only just made the move to Turkey from FC Porto
for 34 million Euros! Depending on who you believe, either Vitesse
are raedy to cooperate in helping the deal go through (and seeing at
least some of their money) or they know nothing about it and simply want to see
the original fee of 18 million Euros asked for P-Air on their bank
account. |
| Erik
Meijer stays with Preston till 2001 |
21 Nov 2000
|
| The
Dutch player Erik Meijer has been lent to Preston North End (playing in
England's First Division) by his current club Liverpool who don't have a
place in their 1st team for him. He went to Liverpoool in 1999 after
playing for Bayer Leverkusen and PSV. He has one international cap to his
name. |
| Tenerife
must pay Makaay 1.75 million Euros |
21 Nov 2000
|
| A
court on Tenerife has ruled that the club of the same name will have to
pay their former player Roy Makaay 1.75 million Euros. The dispute over
his old contract with the club dates back to his departure for Deportivo
la Coruna in 1999. |
| Barcelona
interested in buying Van der Sar |
18 Nov 2000
|
| FC
Barcelona have expressed interest in buying Juventus' and Dutch
international goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. He is out of favour in Italy
at the moment and being blamed for Juventus' lack of success in the Serie
A and their departure from the Champions League. The Italian club would
be prepared to sell him for 5 million Euros. Barcelona are unhappy with
their current keepers and may well be regretting the sale of Ruud Hesp to
Fortuna. |
| Five
Dutch players nominated for Golden Ball Awards |
14 Nov 2000
|
| The
French football magazine France Football has nominated five Dutch players
for the prestigious "Golden Ball" award. They are - Patrick
Kluivert, Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Jaap Stam and Boudewijn Zenden.
Kluivert has a good chance of a place in the top 3 as he was top scorer in
the Euro 2000 tournament. Out of a total of 50 nominations for the award
(best player in European football), 11 were French, 6 Argentinian, 6
Italian and 6 play for Manchester United! Last year's lucky man was the
Brazilian Rivaldo - journalists from 50 countries will choose the
winner to be announced in December. |
| FC
Barcelona want to sell Frank de Boer |
12 Nov 2000
|
| The
Spanish club FC Barcelona want to get rid of Frank de Boer who has been
relegated to the substitutes' bench. His contract, which runs out in 2002,
stipulates that no more than 11,5 Euros can be asked for him. So far there
have been no offers. |
| Coen
Burg's 3-year ban upheld |
12 Nov 2000
|
| The
Dutch player Coen Burg, who was playing for the Belgian club VC Westerlo,
has failed to have the 3-year ban imposed by the Belgian FA (KBVB)
overturned. The ban was the result of his accepting a bribe, together with
teammate Marc Cox, to lose the match aginst KV Kortrijk. |
| Pierre
van Hooijdonk gets paid |
04 Nov 2000
|
| After
talks with the Benfica chairman Pierre has finally been paid the wages
still owed him by the Portugese club. He had threatened to leave the club
and, although the asking price of 3 million pounds was thought too much
money, Leicester City had got wind of the player's problems and were kind
of interested! Everything's been cleared up now and life can go on for
both P-Air and Benfica. Vitesse, who sold him, are still waiting for their
money! |
| Zenden
in Holland for operation |
04 Nov 2000
|
| The
Barcelona star is coming to Holland for exploratory surgery on his knee.
He was injured in training after being out of action for some time with a
thigh problem. |
| Hernandez
off to Wigan |
03 Nov 2000
|
| The
29 year old Ferdino Hernandez is to leave AZ in a transfer-free move to
Wigan Athletic in England. He joined AZ from Utrecht 2 years ago and now
moves to the northwest of England to play for the number 3 club in the
Second Division. |
| Boudewijn
Zenden injured again |
03 Nov 2000
|
| The
Dutch forward Boudewijn Zenden is injured again. He was only recently
declared fit after a thigh injury kept him off the pitch for some time. An
MRI scan will show how serious the injury is and whether he will be out of
action for long. |
| Cocu
prolongs his stay at Barcelona |
31 Oct 2000
|
| The
30 year old Dutch international Philip Cocu has extended his contract with
Spanish club Barcelona for another 2 years - it now ends in 2003. |
| Gronkjær
goes to Chelsea |
31 Oct 2000
|
| The
deal has finally been done! Ajax have sold Jesper Gronkjær for $12.5
million. From January 1st he will be playing for Chelsea in the English
Premier League. The 23 year old player came to Ajax in 1998 from Aalborg
and has now signed for four and a half years with the London club. |
| Pierre
Van Hooijdonk transfer free - Ajax? |
26 Oct 2000
|
| The
Dutch striker Pierre van Hooijdonk is still waiting to be paid for his
services to Portugese club Benfica. He has received some of the payments
due him but not others and there is now a backlog of unpaid wages. Benfica
have been given until November 4th to cough up or he will take them to
court and leave the club. FIFA rules state that he is now in a transfer
free state - who will snap him up? Are you listening Ajax? His old club
Vitesse is also waiting for some of the 7 million dollars they asked for
him - both Vitesse and Benfica are about to go public and issue shares
which explains the reluctance of Benfica to pay and Vitesse's desire to
see some cash. Another titbit of gossip is that Ronald de Boer, at Glasgow
Rangers, was also owed 2 months wages by Barcelona. The money is now
finally on its way. Everybody happy? |
| Bergkamp
fears Arsenal to let him go |
24 Oct 2000
|
| The
Dutch striker Dennis Bergkamp is worried that his current club Arsenal are
not going to extend his contract when it runs out at the end of the
season. Dennis started his career at Ajax, spent two years at Inter Milan
and has played for the London club since 1995. He has had no response from
the club since he announced that he wanted to stay with Arsenal for
another two years at the end of the Euro 2000 tournament. |
| Hasselbaink
scores 4 for Chelsea |
22 Oct 2000
|
| The
Dutch forward Jerrel Hesselbaink scored 4 times in 15 minutes in Chelsea's
6-1 win against Coventry City. |
| Davids
to go to Arsenal? |
16 Oct 2000
|
| Edgar
Davids is poised to make the move to Arsenal and say farewell to Juventus.
the deal is worth 17 million Euros and he is expected to arrive in England
at the end on the month. Juventus are still looking for a replacement for
Davids who had a contract until 2004 with the Italian club. |
| Injured
Kluivert misses Barcelona - AC Milan |
16 Oct 2000
|
| Patrick
Kluivert will miss the coming Champions League clash between Barcelona and
AC Milan due to an injured hip. He expects to be out of action for 4 weeks
- longer than originally thought. |
| Wiekens
renews contract at Manchester City |
14 Oct 2000
|
| Gerard
Wiekens is renegotiating his contract at Manchester City and plans to stay
there until the summer of 2004. The 27 year old was voted best player at
"The Citizens" last season and both he and his family are happy
in England for the time being - he says he can always return to play in
Holland if he wants when his new contract comes to an end.. |
| Hesselbaink
gets two match ban |
13 Oct 2000
|
| Chelsea's
Jerrel Hasselbaink has been given a two match ban for 'insulting' the
referee at the end of the club's UEFA tie with St. Gallen. |
| Dutch
abroad roundup |
24 Sep 2000
|
| The
Dutch duo Kluivert and Overmars helped Barcelona to a 3 - 1 victory
against Racing Santander. In Scotland John Mols scored Glasgow Rangers
winner against Motherwell 1 - 0. In England Bergkamp saved Arsenal from
defeat at Ipswich 1 - 1. |
| Clyde
Wijnaard in serious car accident |
04 Sep 2000
|
| Dutch
forward Clyde Wijnaard, (ex Ajax, Groningen, Willem II) has been involved
in a serious car accident in England, writing off his Mercedes Jeep.
Wijnaard, who now plays for Huddersfield Town, has been taken off the
critical list. It is expected that he will be a number of month out of the game. |
| Bogarde
goes to Chelsea |
01 Sep 2000
|
| Winston
Bogarde is leaving Barcelona for the English club Chelsea with whom he has
signed a contract for 4 years. He has been allowed this transfer-free move
by the Spanish club who earlier in the year wanted 9 million Euros for
him. He leaves Barcelona feeling satisfied with his part in the club's
successes during the last two and a half years and looks forward to
joining fellow Dutchmen De Goey, Melchiot and Hasselbaink in London. |
| Ronald
de Boer joins Glasgow Rangers |
30 Aug 2000
|
| Ronald
de Boer has chosen to leave Spanish club Barcelona, where he expected
insufficient first team action under Louis van Gaal's successor Serra
Ferrer, for Scottish club Glasgow Rangers. He joins fellow Dutch
colleagues Numan, Van Bronckhorst, Konterman, Mols and Ricksen and, of
course, will be playing and training under Dick Advocaat (in his third
season at Rangers). So he moves from one team with a large Dutch
contingent to another squad bursting with fellow countrymen, leaving his
twin brother Frank in Spain (making it the first time since 1992 that the
brothers won't be playing alongside each other on the same team). He
is looking forward to playing alongside so many old faces from Holland
under a coach who shows obvious confidence in the talents of the Dutchmen.
There had been the possibility to move to Manchester United, but they were
less willing to meet the 10 million Euros Barcelona were asking and there
was always the chance that he would have to spend too much time on the
bench compared with in Glasgow. The Scottish league may not be as exciting
as the Spanish 'Liga' but Rangers' chairman Murray has plenty of
cash to invest in the club who have their sights firmly fixed on European
adventures which makes it interesting enough for the 30 year-old who
expects that he will be playing an attacking role at his new club. |
| Chelsea's
Dutch trio crucial in Cup victory |
15 Aug 2000
|
| Chelsea's
Dutch trio played a decisive role in the club's success against Manchester
United in Saturday's Charity Shield Cup. The club's new striker Jimmy
Floyd Hasselbaink, demonstrating once again how well he fits into any team
he plays for, scored early in the game. Former Ajax defender Mario
Melchiot, in his second season at the London club, added a second goal in
the second half. Dutch goalkeeper Ed de Gooi (who let in the least amount
of goals last season in England's Division One) was on top form once
again. He has just extended his contract with Chelsea for another three
years. |
| Bergkamp
to stay with Arsenal |
14 Aug 2000
|
| Dennis
Bergkamp looks likely to play out the rest of his career at Arsenal. He
is expected to extend his contract with the club this week. The
former Dutch international is now 31 and happy to stay with the happy
consent of manager Arsene Wenger. |
| Jordi
Cruijff - Living in the Shadow |
14 Aug 2000
|
| The
son of football's Player of the Century has been back in Holland preparing
for the coming season of Spanish football with his current club Deportivo
Alaves. Pretty much a forgotten footballer in his own country - mostly
remembered for the few appearances he made for Holland - he has not
been the luckiest man in football, having spent four unhappy years at
Manchester United being plagued with fitness problems. Just before moving
to Manchester he underwent surgery on his knee which almost cost him his
career. Further surgery was needed to correct the mistakes made in the
first operation - the beginning of a long, dark tunnel of injuries
broken only by fleeting appearances in a red shirt. Although other English
clubs were interested in the talented Dutchman ( a deal with West Ham
stranded on a sandbank of paperwork) the choice he eventually made for the
Basque side Alvez offers him weekly football in a team who were the
scourge of the Spanish Premier league last season and the chance to play
against the top teams of European football this season (Alvez play
for the first time in their history in Europe). At 26 he knows the coming
year in Spain will determine whether or not there is truly to be a Jordi
revival. If he succeeds in showing the football watching world his
undoubted capabilities it could mean a new lease of life for
him and the chance to break free of the past.
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