“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad22 May 2028
Yvan Zaddy 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Or Hasin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hapoel Kiryat Shmona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ramzi Safouri signs something — a contract at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Hapoel Kiryat Shmona would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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 Yvan Zaddy is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
20 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
In brief
SquadTyrese Asante is the talk of the training ground
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Kiryat Shmona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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.
Something was said to Shay Ben-David and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadYvan Zaddy falls out with a teammate over standards
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Hapoel Kfar Saba spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Or Hasin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hapoel Kiryat Shmona the goodbyes have quietly begun.
1 for Tyrese Asante, marked 7.92, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Or Hasin has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tyrese Asante. 2‑1 against Hapoel Kfar Saba, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two goals and a mark of 8.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Hapoel Kiryat Shmona asked and Maccabi Netanya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A 2‑0 win over Hapoel Raanana, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Hapoel Kiryat Shmona told Daniel something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yvan Zaddy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
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 Itzik Shoolmayster is on it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Kiryat Shmona can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 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.
Hapoel Kiryat Shmona had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at ESTAC Troyes, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona 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. Hapoel Haifa have kept their man, and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
1‑5 against Hapoel Beer Sheva, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Everything agreed with ESTAC Troyes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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. Real Pilar have kept their man, and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Position 12 and 14 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Kiryat Shmona can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
4 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.
Ramzi Safouri 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Sagiv Melikson left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Daniel'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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Yvan Zaddy 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.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hafiz Ibrahim did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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.
14 combined actions and 7.14. 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hafiz Ibrahim. 1‑0 against Hapoel Haifa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yvan Zaddy 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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yvan Zaddy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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.
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Lisandru Olmeta was the best thing in any of them.
Nobody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
1‑2 to Maccabi Petach Tikva, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Sagiv Melikson left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Something was said to Shay Ben-David and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Maccabi Haifa in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hafiz Ibrahim did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yvan Zaddy 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.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sagiv Melikson on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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 Hapoel Kiryat Shmona know it.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Reem Tourgeman commits to Hapoel Kiryat Shmona for another 3 years.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Yvan Zaddy 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.
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 used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Hapoel Kfar Saba in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
“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.
Something was said to Jwan Halabi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Hapoel Raanana? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Position 12 and 5 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Daniel'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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yvan Zaddy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sagiv Melikson was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Hapoel Kiryat Shmona dressing room was either.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, another week without a signature from Yahav Afriat.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hapoel Kiryat Shmona may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Sagiv Melikson to a room that had heard them before.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Yvan Zaddy has his answer from Hapoel Kiryat Shmona; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Hapoel Beer Sheva in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Hafiz Ibrahim 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yvan Zaddy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Sagiv Melikson, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Bnei Sakhnin are out and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Beaten 0‑5 by Maccabi Tel Aviv, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A brace, and Yvan Zaddy takes the afternoon — 8.06
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yvan Zaddy provided it, and the 8.06 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Jwan Halabi 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 manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Tyrese Asante is still being punished for one mistake
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hapoel Kiryat Shmona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1‑4 to Bnei Sakhnin, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
8 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.
Tyrese Asante 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sagiv Melikson after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Yvan Zaddy 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Kiryat Shmona can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Kiryat Shmona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Everything agreed with Stade de Reims, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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 morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona has to find a result from somewhere.
Tyrese Asante 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.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Hapoel Kiryat Shmona prefer.
The dugout8 Mar 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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Sagiv Melikson to a room that had heard them before.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Kiryat Shmona can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Hapoel Kiryat Shmona know it.
Tyrese Asante and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Yaw Ackah 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.
8.08. 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Maccabi Petach Tikva had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Yaw Ackah'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.
Hapoel Acre will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Hapoel Kiryat Shmona were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Tyrese Asante 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 easiest signature of my career.” Daniel and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Yaw Ackah 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. Deportivo Riestra have kept their man, and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Everything agreed with Maccabi Tel Aviv, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Kiryat Shmona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The shirt still fits. Anas Mahamid is back at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yvan Zaddy is living that version at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, and it tends to show in the first month.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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.
Anas Mahamid was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $870.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona has to find a result from somewhere.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
A loan enquiry to Maccabi Netanya: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Hapoel Kiryat Shmona lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona has to find a result from somewhere.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Niv Gabay did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ramzi Safouri 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Yaw Ackah 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Niv Gabay 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.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
4 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.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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.
Half the programme played, position 11, 9 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“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.
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.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Niv Gabay did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amit Glazer and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaw Ackah 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ariel Sheratzky, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Sagiv Melikson left the room before anybody could ask which.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Hapoel Kiryat Shmona lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Belal Shahen's mistake
Beaten 8 times, with 2 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Hapoel Kiryat Shmona and Maccabi Petach Tikva, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaw Ackah 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.” Sagiv Melikson after 2‑8, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
1‑4 against Hapoel Raanana, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Niv Gabay, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Ramzi Safouri 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 had been thinking. Yaw Ackah 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.
10 combined actions and 6.75. 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sagiv Melikson after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaw Ackah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It needed Rüfət Abdullazadə to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Maccabi Netanya, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sagiv Melikson after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Belal Shahen 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.
Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Hapoel Kiryat Shmona asked and Flamengo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sagiv Melikson after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ovadia Darwish’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Gimnasia La Plata is saying, and nobody at Hapoel Kiryat Shmona is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaw Ackah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Hapoel Kiryat Shmona have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ofir Benbenisty scored, was marked 7.81, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atlético Mineiro keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hapoel Kiryat Shmona and Beitar Jerusalem in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑4 Sagiv Melikson left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nemanja Ljubisavljević 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. Atlético Mineiro have kept their man, and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dan Dabbur 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tomer Glazer 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eden Weissman 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Uri Shechter 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.