The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Schalk take on double Dutch interview lost in translation
Forward denies reports he and van derWeg are unsettled
Ross County forward Alex Schalk has denied reports claiming he is unsettled at Dingwall, confirming he remains in talks about extending his contract with the Staggies.
Schalk and fellow Dutchman and Ross County team-mate Kenny van der Weg were interviewed for a magazine in their homeland about their life in Scotland both on and off the pitch.
Reports this week containing extracts from the magazine article gave the impression the two Dutch players are unhappy in the Highlands. But Schalk claims his comments were both mistranslated and taken out of context.
Schalk, whois out of contract inthesummer, said: “I want tomake it clear that it is total rubbish. I wouldn’t be in talks for another contract if I felt that way. I just want to put things straight. We had a Dutch interviewlast week and it was just a funny-type interview about Kenny and I, our youth together at Breda.
“There were a couple of funny short stories about him, but they totally mistranslated the piece, completely out of the context of what it was written in. It reallywasvery negative.
“We were talking about Inverness, where we both live, but they mentioned Dingwall. I never mentioned Dingwall. That’s the first misunderstanding.
“The original interview was more a comparison between what we were used towhenplaying together in Holland. We were quite happy with the Dutch article. TheydoDutchplayers playing abroad, go there and meet them. It wasn’t a normal type of interview, just a funny day.
“We went toLochNess to take some pictures. It was fantastic to show them around. Our intention was moretoputRossCountyon the map in Holland.
“It puts pressure on us going into these games unnecessarily. It’s way too easy to go and translate something out of context like that. I don’t want to be rude but it is like Louis van Gaal talking Dutch in English when he was at Manchester United. Everybody was laughing at that. I’m laughing about this, the same way. It’s pathetic.”
Schalk was also reported to have criticised the lack of atmosphere at County’s home games but the 24year-old says he was simply pointing out the difference from previous club NAC Breda.
Schalk added: “I’m obviously happy here. I’m in talks for extendingmy contract. Why would I go and be negative about this place and about the supporters?
“I have a great relationship with the supporters. It was more like a comparison. We had 20,000 home supporters when we were playing at Breda. The Dutch journalist was more asking us what were the comparisons between our time at Breda and here, so I mentioned that because it is a big difference. But I wasn’t negative or criticising the County
support.”