Football Season Guide

The Dordrecht experiment with Dirk Kuyt last season turned out to be a failure after two expectational seasons in the years prior as the former Dutch international striker never really settled into a system and trusted 11, always bouncing around and searching for solutions, and the team struggled to get into the top eight despite have no little talent in the group. They were close to getting the third period title and sneaking into the play-offs but unravelled after missing out out by a bit and at the end of the season it was not exactly a surprise that he was let go. Now the Sheepheads are trusting their club to former Ajax youth coach Paul Nuijten, who has very little experience and will need to quickly get his bearings and win over the support of the squad. As usual with Dordrecht, they will have a pretty much new squad after a whole lot of arrivals and departures. Once again, the focus is mainly on young players from Feyenoord and from other clubs around the world who will get the chance to make a name for themselves in the season ahead. Dario Sits is one of the more interesting names, a Slovenian striker from Parma who got a big-money move last season and is a big prospect. Apart from that, there is not much to focus on in terms of profiles and the coach will access things as they go and try to make the team as functional as it could be. A few promising players like Robin van Asten, Martin Vetkal and Joey de Bie have been retained from last season as well and they could well blossom into more reliable first-team players with the right guidance. The tools are there for Dordrecht to enjoy a better campaign overall compared to last season if they settle in well but ultimately it is hard to see them being a serious contender for top-six places.