Marked for Iván Müller
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Marko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lourenço Henriques was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 May 2027
Tempers go at Marko
Alejandro Alfonso 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.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexander Johansson signs something — a contract at Marko or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Marko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lourenço Henriques was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Marko
Alexander Johansson 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
32 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages swallow 102% of the Marko income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Spyros Fourlanos, and the manager let it.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lourenço Henriques signs something — a contract at Marko or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
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Match
Marko have something to play for
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The dugout
The manager makes Iván Müller a promise
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Marko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lourenço Henriques was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Leon Ćuk 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Everybody at Marko saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Marko
Sebá 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.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Belts tighten at Marko
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 61 days on the sidelines for Iván Müller, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Marko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rida Zouhir was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages eat 113% of everything Marko earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Marko
Alejandro Alfonso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market22 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lourenço Henriques signs something — a contract at Marko or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
A door opens for Leon Ćuk
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
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Match
Continental football is in reach for Marko
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The dugout
Lucas Necul asks for a word with the manager
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Squad
A season on the outside for Jeevan Badwal
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bryan Nouvier and Marko agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Marko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lourenço Henriques was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Marko know it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Sebá in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Marko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Marko know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.