“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 The request is on a desk at First Vienna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marco Gantschnig and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at First Vienna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asger Sørensen 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.
“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 First Vienna, and 10 appearances in 38 say he has earned the hearing.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Christopher Giuliani is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” First Vienna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Antonios Papadopoulos 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at First Vienna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asger Sørensen 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simon Pirkl signs something — a contract at First Vienna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at First Vienna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Seo Jong-Min is on it.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee First Vienna could ask drops and the wages Simon Pirkl can ask rise.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. First Vienna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Amir Abdijanović 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 Jan 2028
Words at First Vienna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asger Sørensen 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ferro Carril Oeste have kept their man, and First Vienna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I watch every First Vienna game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hertha Wels runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. First Vienna will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Adam Griger is in the works
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Lukas Ulmer has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hertha Wels can pretend not to have heard.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tommaso Macchioni has, at Hertha Wels, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Harrinson Mancilla 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Hertha Wels is running low.
Nicolas Keckeisen 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.
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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Minute 92, against Amstetten, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hertha Wels can pretend not to have heard.
David Jaunegg 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 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 Hertha Wels know it.
0‑1 to Admira Wacker, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Hertha Wels training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Harrinson Mancilla 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.
“I watch every Hertha Wels game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Austria Klagenfurt runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
9 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hertha Wels can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Fynn Lakenmacher 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 Hertha Wels, and 3 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Hertha Wels know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Fynn Lakenmacher 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.
Sturm Graz II left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
146% of the income goes out in wages at Hertha Wels
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Hertha Wels know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hertha Wels this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“I did not go to Austria Klagenfurt to sit and watch. I want to come back to Hertha Wels and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
Squad22 Nov 2027
6 new faces, and Hertha Wels 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Lukas Ulmer after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
SquadIvan Bradarić, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
The dugoutLuca Tischler dropped after a run of poor form
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hertha Wels can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Position 14 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
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.
The mood at Hertha Wels has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Hertha Wels
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
5 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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Hertha Wels can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hertha Wels 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.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hertha Wels this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Hertha Wels, and 4 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Timo Altersberger is living that version at Hertha Wels, and it tends to show in the first month.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Hertha Wels can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hertha Wels can pretend not to have heard.
Fynn Lakenmacher 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hertha Wels, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Hertha Wels will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
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 Andrija Bošnjak is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jonathan Scherzer’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hertha Wels needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
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.
Fynn Lakenmacher 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.
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
11 new faces, and Hertha Wels 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.
The dugout16 Aug 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 Lukas Ulmer to a room that had heard them before.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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 Andrija Bošnjak is on it.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hertha Wels lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
15 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Austria Salzburg were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“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 Hertha Wels, and it is not being withdrawn.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Tolga Günes was one of the reasons people came, and $950.0K does not replace that by itself.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Felix Nachbagauer and Hertha Wels agree another 4 years.
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.
Albin Gashi has gone, the accounts have $340.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hertha Wels have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Tolga Günes 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.
Blau-Weiß Linz paid $340.0K and Hertha Wels took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. First Vienna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what First Vienna can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. First Vienna have done the hard part with Sparta Prague, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Christopher Giuliani reports back to First Vienna with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Bernhard Luxbacher has left for Grazer AK in a $160.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad19 Jul 2027
David Nemeth 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. Austria Lustenau have kept their man, and First Vienna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hertha Wels lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Everything was agreed with First Vienna and then the doctor spoke. Hertha Wels have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Fynn Lakenmacher 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.
A loan enquiry to Red Bull Salzburg: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A loan enquiry to First Vienna: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Adem Mustafić 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.
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. First Vienna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. First Vienna have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 First Vienna, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at First Vienna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$120.0K was the most the club would pay and Austria Lustenau 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Niklas Szerencsi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
First Vienna have made the call to Sparta Prague. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutJürgen Bauer has become a man the manager trusts
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Dru Yearwood damages knee ligaments — 109 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Hertha Wels
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hertha Wels can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with First Vienna is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Fynn Lakenmacher 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. First Vienna have kept their man, and Hertha Wels go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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 First Vienna, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from SV Ried for Louis Birkhahn 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.
First Vienna had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sparta Prague, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Nemeth was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
First Vienna asked and Austria Wien said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bernhard Luxbacher 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and First Vienna know which stage they are at.
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Position 3, 47 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Marco Gantschnig 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. Austria Wien have kept their man, and First Vienna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Christopher Giuliani has come up in conversations First Vienna were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Radonjić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dru Yearwood damages knee ligaments — 124 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 124 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 Hertha Wels, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sebastian Feyrer has gone, the accounts have $320.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The deal with Austria Lustenau is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Blau-Weiß Linz paid $320.0K and Hertha Wels took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Hertha Wels asked and Amstetten said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Hertha Wels have made the call to First Vienna. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Adem Mustafić 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jürgen Bauer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. First Vienna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at First Vienna 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.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. First Vienna 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 First Vienna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The fee is $85.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Hartberg drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at First Vienna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Niklas Szerencsi 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.
First Vienna have made the call to Sturm Graz. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A loan enquiry to Viktoria Plzen: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Nobody at First Vienna 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.
102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. First Vienna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Marco Gantschnig 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 Benjamin Rosenberger was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Red Bull Salzburg 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at First Vienna has been clear about where Dean Titkov stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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.
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 First Vienna have had the benefit of it.
Marco Gantschnig 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at First Vienna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Pirkl 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.
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. First Vienna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Pirkl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at First Vienna 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.
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. First Vienna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at First Vienna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Jürgen Bauer is on it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and First Vienna have no good answer.
In brief
The dugoutKai Stratznig knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 133 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at First Vienna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lovre Rogić 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Benjamin Rosenberger 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.
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 Dean Titkov is on it.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. First Vienna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Marco Gantschnig 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Lovre Rogić 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.
Nobody at First Vienna 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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. First Vienna lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” First Vienna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marco Gantschnig 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 Benjamin Rosenberger was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Marco Gantschnig 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 Benjamin Rosenberger was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at First Vienna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Dean Titkov is on it.
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.
Marcus Maier 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Danny Schmidt 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.
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Óscar Opazo will call it something else in private.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Danny Schmidt 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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz know it.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Atsushi Zaizen's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at LASK is saying, and nobody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz is enjoying the guessing.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Manuel Haas 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Julian Gölles 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Christopher Giuliani will call it something else in private.
0‑3 against St. Pölten, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Marcus Maier 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 had been thinking. Danny Schmidt 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 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what First Vienna can pretend not to have heard.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. First Vienna had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Everything agreed with Red Bull Salzburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at First Vienna 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 Lovre Rogić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Marcus Maier 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.
“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; Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sebastian Dirnberger has his answer from Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, another week without a signature from Marcus Maier.
First Vienna 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Lovre Rogić 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.
Bernhard Luxbacher 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
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 Michael Baumgartner to a room that had heard them before.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Bernhard Luxbacher’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and First Vienna needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” First Vienna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at First Vienna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lovre Rogić 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.
Benjamin Rosenberger 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Louis Birkhahn and First Vienna agree another 4 years.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Austria Salzburg? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Ungar has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Bernhard Unger