Marked for Tomás Bugallo
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Oct 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Oct 2029
Whatever happens, Helsingborg do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Johan Brattberg commits to Helsingborg for another 2 years.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Marked 9.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match6 Oct 2029
Orebro made Helsingborg work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Helsingborg's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Helsingborg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Brian Andrada was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Richard Monges and Helsingborg agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match1 Sep 2029
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad3 Sep 2029
A season average of 7.24 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Aug 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Helsingborg can pretend not to have heard.
Market27 Aug 2029
Only the photograph left for Albert Tamoyan
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Albert Tamoyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Helsingborg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match25 Aug 2029
4 matches without a win for Helsingborg
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Helsingborg are no longer polite ones.
Squad27 Aug 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bamir Sadiku commits to Helsingborg for another 4 years.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kalle Joelsson, and the manager let it.
Match25 Aug 2029
0‑1 to Kalmar FF, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces27 Aug 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Kalle Joelsson
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Aug 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Helsingborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market20 Aug 2029
The Orebro deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kosta Petrovic reports back to Helsingborg with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad20 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Aug 2029
10 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Kalle Joelsson has given nobody the chance.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Samuel Asoma gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
A defender's afternoon for Haris Berbić
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market20 Aug 2029
Everyone has stopped pretending: Gefle will make the call about Albert Tamoyan this week. Helsingborg have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Aug 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Helsingborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Aug 2029
BK Hacken left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad13 Aug 2029
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Brian Andrada
3 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market13 Aug 2029
The name of Adam Andersson keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Helsingborg say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Marked 5.78, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Jul 2029
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 33, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match14 Jul 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. IF Elfsborg came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jun 2029
7 matches without a win for Helsingborg
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Helsingborg are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Helsingborg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Brian Andrada was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Marked 8.66 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match23 Jun 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Tomás Bugallo knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomás Bugallo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jun 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 12 matches without defeat is a foundation Helsingborg did not have in the autumn.
Match2 Jun 2029
4 matches without a win for Helsingborg
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Helsingborg are no longer polite ones.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Akimey, and the manager let it.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Marked 7.65 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Helsingborg had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 May 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 29 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match19 May 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Helsingborg did not have in the autumn.
Market21 May 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Helsingborg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 May 2029
Brian Andrada was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 May 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Marked 7.83 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Helsingborg had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match19 May 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. IFK Goteborg came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Apr 2029
Whatever happens, Helsingborg do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Helsingborg are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Vladan Novevski
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Nov 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market13 Nov 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad13 Nov 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Helsingborg have had the benefit of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Albert Tamoyan
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Albert Tamoyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Helsingborg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Helsingborg are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad30 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Oct 2028
11 matches without a win for Helsingborg
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Helsingborg are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Adam Andersson commits to Helsingborg for another 3 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Anders Bærtelsen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match7 Oct 2028
Bamir Sadiku scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Malmo FF, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.78, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Tomás Bugallo
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad9 Oct 2028
The team sheet said everything about Miguel Pabón
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Miguel Pabón.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market9 Oct 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Helsingborg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jul 2028
Femi Awodesu: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Helsingborg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market31 Jul 2028
Timothé Rupil hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Helsingborg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Jul 2028
The name of Albert Tamoyan has come up in conversations Helsingborg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lukas Kjellnäs and Helsingborg agree another 3 years.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch31 Jul 2028
“I did not go to Orebro to sit and watch. I want to come back to Helsingborg and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jul 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Helsingborg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match1 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Helsingborg's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Helsingborg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Jul 2028
IFK Norrkoping left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andreja Stojanović, and the manager let it.
Loan watch3 Jul 2028
“I did not go to Orebro to sit and watch. I want to come back to Helsingborg and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
The terraces3 Jul 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Market3 Jul 2028
The Haris Berbić story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Haris Berbić signs something — a contract at Helsingborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad22 May 2028
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market22 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Helsingborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 May 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.98, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad22 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Armand Wangen
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 May 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Helsingborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Anders Bærtelsen was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Helsingborg are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Marked 9.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match15 Apr 2028
Three points for Helsingborg, 2‑1 the final word against Falkenberg in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Haris Berbić gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andreja Stojanović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Apr 2028
33 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Helsingborg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Helsingborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.62 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Apr 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Kalle Joelsson knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Match8 Apr 2028
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.