FC Twente players who run aground, have to deal with the ‘wheel of Ricky van Wolfswinkel’. A penalty is determined by a spin of the wheel for a player who has misbehaved. The game introduced by Van Wolfswinkel resulted in Dimitrios Limnios appearing in a hare suit at training on Thursday. After Saturday evening’s 1-0 win over PEC Zwolle, Van Wolfswinkel talks about the ‘Ricky wheel’.
“I think it’s a nice name”, responds the striker in an interview with ESPN on the nickname for his wheel. According to Van Wolfswinkel, the game contributes to the team feeling at Twente, the current number four in the Eredivisie. “There are some things that the trainers should not know either. That may sound very strange, but it is a part of team building. As a team we show how strong we are by treating and handling those kinds of things as a team. Then you can like someone walking on the field wearing a hare suit.”
“It was Limnios’ turn,” Van Wolfswinkel agrees. “I’ll leave aside why he had to turn, that makes our team strong. The trainer doesn’t need to know that, to be honest.” Club watcher Leon ten Voorde van TC Tubantia said on Friday that Limnios was penalized for being late for a training session, but Van Wolfswinkel does not confirm that. “It can be about being late, not meeting agreements, we are short on that. Ricky’s name is now on the wheel, but that can be the name of the entire team.”
At an earlier stage, midfielder Max Bruns had to wash the car of trainer Ron Jans. Ten Voorde also mentioned ‘frolics in a ballet suit on the cinder track of the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadium’ as a possible sanction. What is Van Wolfswinkel’s favorite punishment? “I am a fan of the Abeltje suit, from the children’s film. You are then the bellboy who stands at the door from eight thirty to nine o’clock in the morning and has to say good morning to everyone. No one has fulfilled that task yet, but it is coming.”
The question is who should spin the wheel as the next player. Van Wolfswinkel has to laugh when Michel Vlap’s name is mentioned in the studio, following a shot by Vlap in the injury time of the first half against PEC. He shot into the side net from an almost impossible angle, while Van Wolfswinkel was playable in front of the goal. “You say it,” laughs Van Wolfswinkel. “Vlap wanted to shoot the ball in from the back line, that didn’t work. He said he didn’t see me, then I believe that of course. Nevertheless, I was angry with him, but that’s part of it. I didn’t play my game today either. best game, but wanted to take my goal.”