Peter Criticizes Leak Ahead of ADO's Eredivisie Return Against Groningen

Peter should be basking in the build-up to a landmark afternoon. ADO back at home in the Eredivisie, a sold-out crowd, FC Groningen in town. Instead, the head coach is shutting the doors and talking about betrayal.

The mood changed the moment team information from an open training session appeared online almost in real time. For Peter, that crossed a line.

“I don't know who it was, but in any case someone, or a few people, posted information online immediately,” he told Algemeen Dagblad. “That makes keeping training sessions open completely pointless for us.”

The irritation runs deeper than a single leak. ADO had deliberately kept sessions accessible, trying to reconnect the club with its supporters during their long road back to the top flight. The coach wanted fans close, but not at the expense of his game plan.

“I have no idea if this happened last year as well, but this time I knew it was posted online straight away,” he 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.”

So the gates will be shut, at least for now. The price of tactical integrity is privacy.

First Eredivisie home game in five years

Once the anger over the leak fades, the scale of Sunday’s occasion comes back into focus. This is ADO’s first Eredivisie home fixture in five years, a game that has been circled on calendars since the fixtures came out.

On the pitch, there is little room for sentiment. ADO are still hunting their first points of the 2026-27 campaign after a 2-0 defeat to AZ on the opening day, settled by second-half goals from Ro-Zangelo Daal and Calvin Stengs. The performance left them with lessons to absorb and no margin for another slow start.

Peter, though, is not expecting a cagey affair.

“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 spectacle that a packed home ground should bring.

The problem? Groningen arrive with a spring in their step. They edged past FC Utrecht in their curtain-raiser and travel south carrying momentum and confidence, a dangerous mix for any newly returned side still adjusting to the pace of the division.

Selection headaches and a bench boost

ADO’s preparation is complicated by fitness issues. Jalen Hawkins remains sidelined with a hamstring problem, removing one attacking option from Peter’s toolbox. Long-term absentee Cameron Peupion is also still out as he continues his recovery from knee surgery.

There is at least some good news. Goalkeeper Niclas Thiede has returned to full training after an ankle injury and is back in contention, offering stability in a key position. Cagliari loanee Othniel Raterink is also edging closer to involvement; he is expected to be eased in from the bench as he builds match fitness.

It leaves Peter juggling continuity, caution and the need for a response after that opening setback in Alkmaar.

The stadium will be full, the noise guaranteed. The tactics, this time, will stay behind closed doors. What ADO do with that secrecy against an in-form Groningen will say plenty about how ready they are for life back in the Eredivisie.