44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altach lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Yusuf Demir 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Altach 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.
Mike-Steven Bähre 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Altach, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Altach, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer from Mattersburg for Salif Tietietta 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.
Mike-Steven Bähre 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Altach, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadWords at Altach training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Altach can pretend not to have heard.
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 Altach have had the benefit of 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 Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Aaron Dhondt again, and this time the name on the line is Guidonia Montecelio. Altach are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Mike-Steven Bähre 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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Altach told Moritz Oswald something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“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 Altach, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Diego Madritsch reports back to Altach with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Mike-Steven Bähre 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Altach, another week without a signature from Vesel Demaku.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Admira Wacker held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Altach answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Moritz Oswald trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadDiego Madritsch falls out with a teammate over standards