ADO Boss Peter Closes Training Ground After Leak Ahead of Groningen Match
Peter has drawn a hard line. After a team selection leak from an open session hit the internet almost in real time, the ADO head coach has shut the gates to the public – and made it clear why.
“I don't know who it was, but in any case someone, or a few people, posted information online immediately,” he told Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad. “That makes keeping training sessions open completely pointless for us.”
The irritation is obvious. For a club back in the Eredivisie spotlight, open sessions were meant to reconnect players and supporters. Instead, they handed opponents a blueprint.
“I have no idea if this happened last year as well, but this time I knew it was posted online straight away,” Peter said. “We want everyone to be able to come and watch training, but that information has to stay inside the complex. That didn't happen, so we have to close the doors.”
Tactical secrecy wins. Sentiment loses.
First Eredivisie home game in five years
Away from the leak, Sunday still carries a sense of occasion. ADO host FC Groningen on matchday two of the 2026-27 Eredivisie season, their first top-flight home fixture in five years, and they will do it in front of a sold-out crowd.
The stakes are immediate. ADO are chasing their first points of the campaign after a 2-0 defeat to AZ on the opening weekend, when second-half goals from Ro-Zangelo Daal and Calvin Stengs settled the contest. The performance left work to do. The response now has to come at home.
Peter expects a game that suits the occasion rather than a cagey stalemate. “I don't expect any surprises and I'm hoping for an open game played at high intensity by both teams,” he said, leaning into the idea that both sides will go toe-to-toe rather than retreat into their shells.
Injury picture and selection calls
The squad news offers a mixed picture. Jalen Hawkins remains sidelined with a hamstring problem, while Cameron Peupion is still out long term after knee surgery. Two attacking options, two absences that trim the coach’s flexibility.
There is better news at the other end of the pitch. Goalkeeper Niclas Thiede has returned to full training after an ankle injury and is back in contention. His availability steadies things in a key position just as the season starts to take shape.
On the bench, there could be a first glimpse of Othniel Raterink in an ADO shirt. The Cagliari loanee is still building match fitness but may be involved among the substitutes, a potential late-game option if the tempo and space open up as Peter hopes.
Groningen bring momentum
The visitors arrive with something ADO do not yet have: momentum. Groningen edged past FC Utrecht in their curtain-raiser and travel south with confidence and rhythm already in their legs.
That makes this more than a nostalgic homecoming for ADO. It is a stern early test against a side that has started quickly and believes it can keep driving forward.
A packed stadium, a coach guarding his tactics, a team still hunting its first point back in the big league. The doors to training may be closed now, but on Sunday afternoon, with Groningen in town, nothing about ADO’s response will be hidden.
