Where FC Groningen is silent about what happened around Liam van Gelderen and Tomas Suslov, the latter wants to say something about the punishment he received from the club. “We have not committed murder.”
Liam van Gelderen and Tomas Suslov were missing from the training field at FC Groningen on Tuesday. In the afternoon, coach Dick Lukkien confirmed that he has removed both players from the first selection. Suslov and Van Gelderen, friends in everyday life, train with the U21 until further notice, because they have violated agreements made.
Runs
For Suslov it was already the second time that he was excluded from the selection by the Veendammer coach. It also happened to the 21-year-old Slovak, who is in the interest of Slovan Bratislava, during the preparation, when he was sent away from the training camp in Epe.
,,But now it comes across as if we have done something really bad”, says Suslov. ,,The only thing that happened is that we did not perform the obligatory runs after the match against Willem II.” Suslov and Van Gelderen sat on the bench for the full ninety minutes during the game, which ended in 0-0. The substitutes are normally expected to do some running after the game, but the pair did not do that.
Not professional
,,Don’t get me wrong, we realize that it was not professional of us not to keep that agreement, but we were a bit emotional and frustrated with the circumstances”, Suslov continues. ,,I don’t justify it, especially because I’ve had problems before this season, but it’s less bad than many people think.”
According to Suslov, the media reports give the wrong impression. “We didn’t commit murder and we weren’t found drunk in town or anything like that. We just didn’t do those walks. Again, I’m not proud of it and it’s not right, because we just have to do our job at the club. But I do want to make it clear that there is no more to it than this.”
Intense conversations
The relationship between Lukkien and Suslov seemed to be good after the earlier incidents this season. The two had intense conversations a number of times and the outcome was that Suslov flew into his trainer’s arms after he scored in the first round of the competition against Jong Ajax.
,,Trainer Dick is a very good person”, says Suslov, ,,We talked a lot with each other. He is also a very good coach, who fits perfectly with FC Groningen. You won’t hear a bad word from me about him. He does good work. Our relationship is good and I hope this doesn’t get in the way. I can only be positive about him.”
Departure wish
When asked whether his behavior also has to do with his wish to leave FC Groningen, Suslov does not want to comment. “I don’t want to talk about that right now. It is a matter between FC Groningen and Bratislava. The clubs are negotiating and I’m waiting to see what the end result will be.”
As reported earlier, FC Groningen does not want to comment substantively on the disciplinary punishment of Suslov and Van Gelderen, except with the statement that the two have violated agreements made.