Football Season Guide

Roda JC narrowly survived in the Eredivisie at the end of the previous campaign. The Kerkrade side was condemned to participating in the relegation play-offs after having finished a hugely disappointing season in 17th spot in the league table. Roda JC managed to see both Helmond Sport and MVV Maastricht off in double-headers to ensure themselves of another year in the Eredivisie, but their performances in those games were far from convincing and typical for the whole campaign. Goalkeeper Benjamin van Leer played an important role in the previous season and the final result of the campaign could have been a lot worse without him playing so well. His decent performances have resulted in a transfer to Ajax. Abdul Ajagun was another important player during the previous campaign because of several decisive goals he scored. He played for Roda JC on loan from Panathinaikos but has now been taken by KV Kortrijk. The Kerkrade side has added a lot of players to the squad on loan from other clubs during the last two years and almost all of those have left the club during the summer break. Ajagun was the most important player of those, as most of the others were not regular players. Tom van Hyfte, another regular player, has also left the club to play for Beerschot in Belgium. Yannis Anastasiou was fired during the relegation play-offs and he will now become the coach of KV Kortrijk in Belgium where he will be reunited with Ajagun, Bryan Verboom and Athanasios Papazoglou. Robert Molenaar, who was the coach of FC Volendam in the last two seasons, will replace Anastasiou. A few new players have been added to the squad already. Because of the departure of three goalkeepers, two new goalkeepers have been signed. Filip Kurto, who already played for Roda JC in the past, came over from Excelsior while Hidde Jurjus will play for Roda JC this season on loan from PSV Eindhoven. Midfielders Simon Gustafson (on loan from Feyenoord), Jorn Vancamp (on loan from Anderlecht) and Tsiy William Ndenge (on loan from Borussia Mönchengladbach) have also been added to the squad. Molenaar and his men will be aiming to keep three teams below them at the end of the upcoming season to ensure themselves of another year in the Eredivisie without having to participate in the relegation play-offs.