A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Holstein Kiel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against VfL Bochum in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Holstein Kiel. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luca Prasse trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Holstein Kiel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Holstein Kiel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Minute 88, against Schalke 04, 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Holstein Kiel has been clear about where Timon Weiner stands, which is more than many ever get.
0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Holstein Kiel will have this month.
137 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Holstein Kiel 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Timo Werner signs something — a contract at Holstein Kiel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Schalke 04 next, and one man in the Holstein Kiel dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Holstein Kiel would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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 Holstein Kiel will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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 Tymoteusz Puchacz has written the date down.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Holstein Kiel can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Holstein Kiel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Timo Werner was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.82. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Holstein Kiel interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Ralf Otto keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Holstein Kiel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Holstein Kiel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Holstein Kiel asked and VfB Stuttgart said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Oscar Vilhelmsson 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.
In brief
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for David Zec
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Everything agreed with RB Leipzig, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Lechia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Philipp Köhn 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bayer Leverkusen have kept their man, and Holstein Kiel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Carlos Ortíz and Holstein Kiel agree another 2 years.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Holstein Kiel lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from OFK Beograd for Marko Ivezić 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.
Everything agreed with Bayern Munich, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Holstein Kiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrián Kaprálik 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.
Andu Kelati 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.
Holstein Kiel asked and Bayer Leverkusen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Holstein Kiel, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
The dugoutJohn Tolkin asks for a word with the manager
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Holstein Kiel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. FC Augsburg moved on, Jonas Krumrey reports back to Holstein Kiel, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Holstein Kiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrián Kaprálik 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. Bayer Leverkusen have kept their man, and Holstein Kiel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
A loan enquiry to Stade de Reims: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Everything agreed with Magdeburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Christian Kofane 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 Adam Markhiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Tino Kusanović again, and this time the name on the line is Heerenveen. Nürnberg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Holstein Kiel 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Greuther Fürth will make the call about Dustin Forkel this week. Nürnberg have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nürnberg, another week without a signature from Noah Sarenren-Bazee.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Holstein Kiel is running low.
Everything agreed with Borussia Mönchengladbach, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Holstein Kiel can pretend not to have heard.
Andu Kelati 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
John Tolkin 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Niklas Niehoff has his answer from Holstein Kiel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A loan enquiry to Olympique Lyonnais: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Preußen Münster 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.
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.
Andu Kelati 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.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Holstein Kiel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cercle Brugge can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cercle Brugge 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 Jordan Amavi 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 Cercle Brugge, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Words at Holstein Kiel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrián Kaprálik 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.
Jonas Therkelsen 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 did not go to Cercle Brugge to sit and watch. I want to come back to Holstein Kiel and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
“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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Holstein Kiel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Holstein Kiel that is a harder question to answer.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Holstein Kiel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Joachim Imbrechts 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 May 2027
Jordan Amavi 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.
“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 Cercle Brugge know it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ibrahima Diaby is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Joachim Imbrechts 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 Apr 2027
Words at Cercle Brugge training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raul Florucz 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Cercle Brugge, another week without a signature from Arno Valkenaers.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cercle Brugge can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jordan Amavi 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 Cercle Brugge know it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jason Januzaj after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cercle Brugge can pretend not to have heard.
Benito Raman 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Martim Dias has just signed for Cercle Brugge, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jordan Amavi 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. Andorra have kept their man, and Cercle Brugge go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Charles Herrmann and Cercle Brugge agree another 5 years.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Jonas Krumrey arrives from Holstein Kiel with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sparta Rotterdam waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cercle Brugge is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Cercle Brugge close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 4 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.
The chase for D'Margio Wright-Phillips ended with $1.2M changing hands and Beerschot out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The deal with Holstein Kiel 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. D'Margio Wright-Phillips has, at Cercle Brugge, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Benito Raman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Cercle Brugge training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raul Florucz 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Holstein Kiel 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 Holstein Kiel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Holstein Kiel 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Holstein Kiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Eintracht Frankfurt have kept their man, and Holstein Kiel 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 John Tolkin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bayern Munich 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.
Position 14 and 23 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.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Dante Vanzeir takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dante Vanzeir provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from Berekum Chelsea for Lawrence Agyekum 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cercle Brugge this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Charles Herrmann is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Raul Florucz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cercle Brugge asked and Olympic Charleroi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“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 Holstein Kiel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at SC Freiburg is saying, and nobody at Holstein Kiel is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Holstein Kiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Jonas Krumrey again, and this time the name on the line is Cercle Brugge. Holstein Kiel are listening politely and promising nothing.
A 1‑0 win over Dynamo Dresden, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adrián Kaprálik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Timo Werner at his very best
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Holstein Kiel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
John Tolkin 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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” David Thomas after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
14 combined actions and 7.17. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Jonas Meffert 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Holstein Kiel 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.
“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.
11 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.