A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sturm Graz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Paul Gartler and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Gorenc Stankovič was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sturm Graz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Sturm Graz hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Philipp Wiesinger 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sturm Graz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sturm Graz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Gorenc Stankovič was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sturm Graz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sturm Graz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Gorenc Stankovič was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Sturm Graz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Michael Sollbauer has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutOliver Sorg knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Philipp Wiesinger 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 Apr 2028
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutIvan Božić asks for a word with the manager
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sturm Graz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sturm Graz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Sturm Graz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mario Jurčevič trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sturm Graz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sturm Graz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sturm Graz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Philipp Wiesinger 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sturm Graz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sturm Graz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sturm Graz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lukas Lienhart will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sturm Graz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Sturm Graz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Michael Sollbauer has written the date down.
In brief
SquadDavid Lainer is not doing himself any favours
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sturm Graz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Philipp Wiesinger and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Yusuf Demir is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Božić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Anastas Arnaudovski may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Sturm Graz spent the window trying to move Ibrahim Buhari on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sturm Graz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The bid was some way short and Sturm Graz did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Sturm Graz close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Philipp Wiesinger 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Austria Wien have kept their man, and Sturm Graz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sturm Graz are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sturm Graz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Austria Wien waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sturm Graz is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Everything agreed with Wolfsberger AC, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Philipp Wiesinger 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Gorenc Stankovič was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sturm Graz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Philipp Wiesinger and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sturm Graz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4 on 32 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sturm Graz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
138 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sturm Graz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Seedy Jatta and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Gorenc Stankovič was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Sturm Graz will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Sturm Graz will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sturm Graz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sturm Graz heard it as anything else.
Philipp Wiesinger 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Gorenc Stankovič was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Successful dribbles: 52. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Philipp Wiesinger and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Michael Sollbauer will call it something else in private.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Wolfsberger AC in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Luca Weinhandl wins it after the whistle should have gone
94 minutes played. Luca Weinhandl found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Grodig went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Philipp Wiesinger and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luca Weinhandl. 2‑1 against Grodig, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Luca Weinhandl has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Julian Fuchs could afford to be generous.
Seedy Jatta 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Sturm Graz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gorenc Stankovič is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“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.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Julian Fuchs to a room that had heard them before.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sturm Graz told Jili Buyabu something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sturm Graz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sturm Graz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ivan Božić had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.97 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luka Đorđević has, at Sturm Graz, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Frosinone keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecce have kept their man, and Sturm Graz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sturm Graz are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SV Ried lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lecce keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Andreas Leitner 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Jonas Mayer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
SV Ried asked and Central Espanol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at SV Ried is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Clermont Foot keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikki Havenaar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
SV Ried asked and Southampton said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 SV Ried, and it is not being withdrawn.
Andreas Leitner and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Jonas Mayer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ascoli have kept their man, and SV Ried go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. SV Ried lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at SV Ried is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He is going to Red Bull Salzburg, the club has $4.9M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Red Bull Salzburg pay $4.9M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Fabian Rossdorfer is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikki Havenaar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The offer from Austria Wien for Marlon Mustapha was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
$500.0K on the table at Sturm Graz. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Andreas Leitner and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
SV Ried asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikki Havenaar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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 SV Ried have had the benefit of it.
Andreas Leitner 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Saliou Sané is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SV Ried they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Radonjić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at SV Ried will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Position 5 on 27 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
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
The dugoutFelix Wimmer knocks on the manager’s door
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Sollbauer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around SV Ried the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikki Havenaar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at SV Ried will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at SV Ried. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at SV Ried, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marlon Mustapha signs something — a contract at SV Ried or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Position 5 on 27 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Andreas Leitner 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dejan Radonjić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at SV Ried, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at SV Ried will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Andreas Leitner and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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; SV Ried are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dejan Radonjić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SV Ried they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every SV Ried game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Altach runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. SV Ried know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and SV Ried will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
The dugoutFelix Wimmer knocks on the manager's door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Sollbauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 SV Ried know it.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at SV Ried, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marlon Mustapha signs something — a contract at SV Ried or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Position 5 on 27 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Ante Bajić 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikki Havenaar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alexander Alaba has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at SV Ried no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Julius Biada a promise
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SV Ried lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 SV Ried, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Sollbauer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around SV Ried the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Sollbauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at SV Ried, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christopher Wernitznig, and the manager let it.
Market1 Mar 2027
Saliou Sané returns from a loan that gave him nothing
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
Nobody at SV Ried will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 40 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikki Havenaar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marlon Mustapha signs something — a contract at SV Ried or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at SV Ried will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Position 5, 27 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SV Ried lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Andreas Leitner 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikki Havenaar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Samuel Chukwudi is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. SV Ried know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Marlon Mustapha reports back to SV Ried with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Andreas Leitner and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Haladas have kept their man, and SV Ried go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Raphael Lindner has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Michael Weimann has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Sollbauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lucas Díaz is 20, and SV Ried have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michael Sollbauer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around SV Ried the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at SV Ried until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. SV Ried have done the hard part with Birmingham, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nicolas Riveros is living that version at SV Ried, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikki Havenaar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Makhachkala have kept their man, and SV Ried go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
SV Ried had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Reggiana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Frosinone have kept their man, and SV Ried go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Pomer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nermin Mesić and SV Ried agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad25 Jan 2027
7 new faces, and SV Ried are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at SV Ried, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marlon Mustapha signs something — a contract at SV Ried or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutNermin Mesić has become a man the manager trusts
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Grodig waiting with a shirt. Nobody at SV Ried is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
SV Ried had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Spartak Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Ante Bajić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wrexham have kept their man, and SV Ried go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michael Sollbauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Austria Wien have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andreas Leitner trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Joris Boguo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” SV Ried have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Silvio López is living that version at SV Ried, and it tends to show in the first month.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. SV Ried will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
SV Ried had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Altach, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Andreas Leitner and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Patrick Prass has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yusuf Maart is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonas Mayer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marlon Mustapha signs something — a contract at SV Ried or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5, 27 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Yusuf Maart and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at SV Ried, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Sollbauer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at SV Ried who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yusuf Maart is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Kevin Hinteregger after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Michael Sollbauer will call it something else in private.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Joris Boguo is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Oliver Steurer and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Yusuf Maart falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Something was said to Marlon Mustapha and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Kevin Hinteregger after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Yusuf Maart falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 6.85 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Kevin Hinteregger after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason SV Ried will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Andreas Leitner 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.
Position 5, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christopher Wernitznig was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. SV Ried will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Andreas Leitner and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yusuf Maart is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A 2‑1 win over Admira Wacker, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Two goals and a mark of 8.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Yusuf Maart falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stefan Lazaro has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. SV Ried will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Kevin Hinteregger after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. SV Ried have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what SV Ried can pretend not to have heard.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.24 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Samuel Chukwudi scored, was marked 7.91, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rapid Wien have kept their man, and SV Ried go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$870.0K was the most the club would pay and Austria Wien were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
SV Ried had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AZ, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Ante Bajić 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Evan Eghosa commits to SV Ried for another 4 years.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yusuf Maart is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Grodig paid $1.2M and SV Ried took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Ante Bajić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Martin Trimmel is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Konrad Laimer is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. SV Ried will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Marlon Mustapha is living that version at SV Ried, and it tends to show in the first month.
$5.1M on the table at Red Bull Salzburg. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SV Ried this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. SV Ried have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at SV Ried training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michael Sollbauer is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Still no offer on the table, and Yusuf Maart’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.