Hopeless situation, or not? | correspondence William Pomp and Jonathan Ploeg about the ups and downs at FC Groningen and FC Emmen

Hi William,

How are you actually doing? Every week you go to the stadium with renewed courage, hoping for a victory for FC Groningen, which can more than use the points in the battle for survival. But you are always disappointed. This past weekend was no exception. For a moment, the FC seemed to turn the match against FC Utrecht with that equalizer, but it turned out to be disappointing again. With six games to go and eight points behind Excelsior, the current number sixteen in the ranking, it now really seems like a hopeless situation.

Next weekend a trip to Waalwijk. Can you still afford it? Ah, what am I actually babbling; I’m in pretty much the same boat. FC Emmen has not escaped the dance either. Although things look a bit brighter in Drenthe after the victories over Excelsior and SC Cambuur and last weekend’s draw against NEC. As it stands now, I suspect that FC Emmen will fight with FC Volendam and Excelsior which two will avoid that damned sixteenth place. Vitesse, which is also close by, I can still see points. The Arnhemmers have sufficient quality.

With seven points from the last four games, FC Emmen has at least seized the last opportunities for a possible longer stay in the premier league. If you see the upcoming schedule, it almost had to be. With Ajax, SC Heerenveen, FC Twente, AZ, Feyenoord and FC Utrecht as opponents, you don’t expect FC Emmen to have taken another four points at the end of the stage. On the other hand: football is football, crazier things have happened. Earlier this season, PSV and FC Utrecht beat PSV and FC Utrecht in-house and played a draw against Ajax.

Cherish that thought when you get in the car on Saturday for that 2.5-hour drive to the Mandemakers Stadium. The gap to Excelsior may be eight points, but as long as it is still theoretically possible, FC Groningen is also ‘just’ still in the race for survival.

See you later! Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

Everything is fine here, don’t worry. I am a positive person, as you know; still in good spirits. Nothing is impossible until you have to get four points from one duel to keep your head above water. Crazier things have happened in sports, see the story about last season’s Sparta scenario.

If the sword of Damascus falls after all, as former chairman Renze de Vries once beautifully put it, then I am already looking forward to the upcoming championship of FC Groningen in the first division. Especially the way in which director Wouter Gudde and his colleagues will give shape to that goal within a year. From a journalistic point of view, of course, very interesting. Which players stay, who leave? How do you organize your organization if you have a few million less to spend? Can trainer Dick Lukkien repeat the trick that he already played twice at FC Emmen? We will make sure that our readers don’t miss any of it one step lower.

But like I said, I need to see it all first. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings . Do you know that beautiful English proverb? You cannot predict the outcome of a competition while it is still in progress. I think it was former basketball coach Glenn Pinas who first used the saying in my presence when I was appointed sports reporter Groningen shortly after the turn of the century with Donar in my package, among others.

I’ve often wondered who that is fat lady until I read that the saying comes from American baseball. It seems that in the 1950s it was customary there for an opera singer of Rubensian proportions to sing the national anthem at the end of the competition. So much for the useless facts, but you understand: in the green cathedral of FC Groningen we will not throw the axe at it before that ‘t Grönnen’s Laid blares from the speakers and the safe places have disappeared from sight for good. You have been warned.

Until next week! William