Other Eredivisie Teams

[DanK]

Roda looks to be Fucked (with a capital 'F'), which is a shame. Sorry about the continued fucking swearing. I hate Ajax today. Need to let my emotions out

[Kowalczyk]

The last games have been played in the First Division.

We already knew the champions: VVV-Venlo, who will go up directly.

Qualified for the post-season play-offs are: RKC Waalwijk, SC Cambuur, FC Zwolle, Excelsior, MVV, TOP Oss, Telstar and FC Dordrecht.

If this was Fortuna Sittard's very last game in Holland's professional divisions, it was a bit of a sad one: 1-1 at Telstar, in front of only 950 people...

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Relegation battle is a true thriller...

On page 818 of NOS Teletekst (http://teletekst.nos.nl/) they update the bottom of the table real-time. Right now, Volendam are on their way down (Roda 0-1 up at De Kuip)...

Edit: Tiendalli sent off, Feyenoord - Roda 0-2... (21'). Volendam will have to win in Doetinchem now...

K.

[Cedric]

And is Feyenoord still qualified for the play-offs then?

[Kowalczyk]

Feyenoord - Roda: 1-3.

Graafschap - Volendam: 1-2 (Volendam went a goal down, but turned it around with two goals in five minutes' time).

Right now, De Graafschap are on their way out...

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Feyenoord score (2-3) and De Graafschap equalize... So right now, Volendam are on their way out again.

This is mad.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Game over.

Feyenoord - Roda: 2-3
Graafschap - Volendam: 2-2

Volendam go down... That's a shame. Very sorry for them.

K.

[Michael_B]

Just confirmed by NOS:

Louis van Gaal is signing with Bayern.

[DanK]

Just confirmed by NOS:

Louis van Gaal is signing with Bayern.

Crap for AZ. I am surprised he didn't stay one more season for CL football with them.

[Kowalczyk]

AZ will now go after Co. For sure.

If he says no to Ajax but yes to AZ, he really is mad. He's a God over there. Everybody loves him. He can only lose, unless he wins another title with them (which ain't gonna happen: now that Van Gaal is gone, they'll probably lose El Hamdaoui, Schaars, De Zeeuw and Dembele as well...).

Ajax is where Co has something to win. And something to prove. At AZ thing can only go downhill; at Ajax the exact opposite is the case.

It's funny: the Dutch papers all write that Co turned Ajax down. Not true. They also write that Ajax have now deleted his name from their wishlist. Not true, either. Just read the reports. Ajax called him, Co said "I want to focus on Salzburg now and after that I need some time to think about my future." Ajax's answer: "We respect that."

I wouldn't be surprised if Rik van den Boog talks to a few other people - and then goes back to Co.

K.

[Kowalczyk]

Heerenveen just won their very first official trophy since the start of professional football in The Netherlands: the KNVB Cup of 2009. They beat FC Twente in the final in Rotterdam: Heerenveen took the lead twice, but the final score after regulation was 2-2. Twente hit the woodwork twice and were clearly the better side in the second half.

No goals in extra time, so a penalty shoot-out had to force the decision. The two goalkeepers were ex-Ajax (Boschker for Twente, Vonk for Heerenveen), the man who missed was an ex-Ajax man (Youssouf Hersi) and the man who converted the decisive one was an ex-Ajax man, too (Gerald Sibon). Pennos: 4-3 to Heerenveen.

Nice one for Heerenveen. My good mate Kor is going bananas right now. Good for him.

K.

[Venezuelan Ajacied]

Heerenveen just won their very first official trophy since the start of professional football in The Netherlands: the KNVB Cup of 2009. They beat FC Twente in the final in Rotterdam: Heerenveen took the lead twice, but the final score after regulation was 2-2. Twente hit the woodwork twice and were clearly the better side in the second half.

No goals in extra time, so a penalty shoot-out had to force the decision. The two goalkeepers were ex-Ajax (Boschker for Twente, Vonk for Heerenveen), the man who missed was an ex-Ajax man (Youssouf Hersi) and the man who converted the decisive one was an ex-Ajax man, too (Gerald Sibon). Pennos: 4-3 to Heerenveen.

Nice one for Heerenveen. My good mate Kor is going bananas right now. Good for him.

K.

Good for them...Heerenveen is everybodys second favorite team. Good for them and good for friesland

[dws]

Seems Ronald Koeman is the new AZ coach.

[DanK]

Seems Ronald Koeman is the new AZ coach.

[Kowalczyk]

Heerenveen just won their very first official trophy since the start of professional football in The Netherlands: the KNVB Cup of 2009. They beat FC Twente in the final in Rotterdam: Heerenveen took the lead twice, but the final score after regulation was 2-2. Twente hit the woodwork twice and were clearly the better side in the second half.

No goals in extra time, so a penalty shoot-out had to force the decision. The two goalkeepers were ex-Ajax (Boschker for Twente, Vonk for Heerenveen), the man who missed was an ex-Ajax man (Youssouf Hersi) and the man who converted the decisive one was an ex-Ajax man, too (Gerald Sibon). Pennos: 4-3 to Heerenveen.

Nice one for Heerenveen. My good mate Kor is going bananas right now. Good for him.

Highlights of the cup final (very entertaining little game of football):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCvGJ6ecTJI

K.

[Blind3]

CONGRATS to Heerenveen !! Glad to see Steve McLaren come up short .

[Kowalczyk]

The inevitable has happened: the KNVB have decided to withdraw Fortuna Sittard's license for professional football. They only thing they can do now is start a (civil) legal procedure. Small chance of success. They will almost certainly go out of business and return to the ranks of amateur football.

The last time this happened was in 1992, when two clubs went out of business in one summer: First Division sides FC Wageningen and VCV Zeeland.

Edit: As expected, Fortuna Sittard have decided to throw the book at the KNVB. Lawsuit has been announced.

K.

[Over Pasanens Head]

I see the peoples team in Rotterdam finished their season in style yesterday

They lost at home to NAC in the playoffs 4-0 - this means no European football for these lovely people. What a shame

[SPL]

I see the most complicated play off system in the world is continuing ie relegation promotion spots.

Roda and De Graafschap involved.

There are 3 rounds.
In round 1 MVV beat Stormvogels Telstar 1-0 over 2 games and
Dordrecht beat Topp Oss 3-0 over 2 games.

Round 2 3 legs per per tie and so far 2 games have been played
De Graafschap leading MVV 5-4
RKC lead Excelsior 3-2
Roda lead Dordrecht 2-1
Cambuur lead Zwolle 4-3.
3rd and final game played on Monday.


Round 3
The playoff finals will also be over 3 legs
De Graafschap orMVV v RKC or Excelsior winner in the eredivisie
Roda or Dordrecht v Cambuur or Zwolle winner in eredivisie.

I am not sure why Dordrecht who finished 8th, Topp Oss 14th or Telstar 17th were involved when Go Ahead Eagles finished 7th. The other clubs all finished 2nd to 6th. ( Something about dividing the season into 4 stages )

Anyway by the 3rd June it will be over and I expect Roda and De Graafschap will still be in Eredivisie

PS A completely useless bit of info regards Stormvogels Telstar. This time last year my cousin , who lives in Huizen , a few miles to the East of Amsterdam was telling me he taught in a secondary school in Ijmuiden ( a few miles to the west of Amsterdam) before he had chance to say anything else I said you mean Ijmuiden as in Stormvogels Telstar. He was shocked I had even heard of them and then informed me his school was next door to their ground and he could see them training (if he wanted to )
from his classroom.

PPS I did say it was useless info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still only the Dutch could come up with a playoff system where a team finishes 17th can still be promoted.What a magic country.

[Kowalczyk]

Promotion/relegation play-offs! The two finals are...

Roda JC vs SC Cambuur
De Graafschap vs RKC Waalwijk

Best-of-three is the principle. Winners to play in the Eredivisie next season.

K.

[jamie]

I hope that Roda will stay in the Eredivisie.

[SE6Ajacied]

De Graafschap v RKC is very hard to choose between. Quite like the Super Boeren but always had a soft spot for RKC as well, no particular reason but probably due to their Wimbledon-esque rise through the leagues from 1981 and 82 Amateur Champions to being a half-decent Eredivisie side.

[Kowalczyk]

I hope Cambuur will go up. I like that club. Good crowd. They're 'street'. And it would be great to have the Frisian Derby in the Eredivisie.

Roda can crash out, for all I care. They used to have good teams, the club had character and they have a very nice ground, but Roda have turned into a somewhat grey and non-descript club. Right now I find them boring more than anything else.

Go Cambuur!

K.

[Ajaxfanuk]

De Graafschap have had a nice lil run I think Waalwijk should come up for variations sake, ditto for Cambuur. Stand stand RodaJC and I've always loved the fair city of Leeuwarden; its beautiful.

[Kowalczyk]

I've always loved the fair city of Leeuwarden; its beautiful.

Tis.

Would actually be a very nice one for a weekend trip. My mates and I used to go to Roda away, and spend the Saturday night in Maastricht. That's a great place. We did the same thing in Tilburg once. Tilburg is not a very pretty city, but it has a good nightlife (university town).

Leeuwarden would be an excellent one for a similar trip. Small place, but with an edge to it. Just like Cambuur, really. Nice old stadium in the middle of a neighborhood (it's becoming a rare thing in football).

As I said: they're 'street'.

K.