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.
$3.9M on the table at Besiktas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Goztepe have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Kayserispor did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.0M for Ömer Tiryakigil, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ömer Tiryakigil has, at Sivasspor, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Fenerbahce pay $1.0M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Sivasspor will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
The dugoutPedrinho has become a man the manager trusts
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sivasspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
This is not rotation. İrfan Can Kahveci has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sivasspor is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 May 2030
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Sivasspor will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mirko Salvi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Toral Bayramov’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad20 May 2030
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
Kaan Ayhan 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sivasspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Ravil Tagir has written the date down.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sivasspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aly Mallé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sivasspor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Iván Cédric 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 Vitor Jacaré 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.
Nobody at Sivasspor will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 59 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
This is not rotation. İrfan Can Kahveci has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sivasspor is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Vitor Jacaré 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.
Berkan Kutlu 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 1‑0 win over Genclerbirligi, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“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; Sivasspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Elayis Tavşan at his very best
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sivasspor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Kaan Ayhan 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Iván Cédric 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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.88, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout22 Apr 2030
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 Deniz Kokcu to a room that had heard them before.
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 Vitor Jacaré is on it.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sivasspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
13 goals and a season average of 7.30 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Vitor Jacaré 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.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sivasspor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aly Mallé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sivasspor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
İrfan Can Kahveci 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 Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
İrfan Can Kahveci and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Iván Cédric 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 Sivasspor know it.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mirko Salvi
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sivasspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor 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 Vitor Jacaré is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Diogo Riquelme
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sivasspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.19 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad18 Mar 2030
Vitor Jacaré 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Deniz Kokcu has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré 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 Sivasspor know it.
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sivasspor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sivasspor can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
A point taken on 91 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Pedrinho.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sivasspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Aly Mallé 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Iván Cédric falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.28 — 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.
Murat Paluli damages knee ligaments — 102 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 16 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal that would have taken Iván Cédric to Amedspor has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Sivasspor with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sivasspor is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sivasspor asked and Manisa FK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Murat Paluli 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.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré 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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sivasspor have done the hard part with Samsunspor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Cédric was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sivasspor asked and Besiktas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Juan David Ramírez 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.
Add another name to the list: Umraniyespor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Arif Kocaman. The answer from Sivasspor has not changed — yet.
“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; Sivasspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Sivasspor asked and Rizespor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Elayis Tavşan. 2‑1 against Kasimpasa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The bid was some way short and Sivasspor did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Sivasspor had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sivasspor have done the hard part with Hatayspor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kaan Ayhan and Sivasspor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Iván Cédric 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.
Charis Charisis 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.
Sivasspor asked and Gaziantep said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Sivasspor, 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 Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arif Kocaman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sivasspor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kaan Ayhan 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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe game went through Elayis Tavşan — 6.93
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Sivasspor did not have in the autumn.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Cédric 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.
Oğulcan Ülgün 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.
Marked 8.43. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sivasspor.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
Naci Ünüvar was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Murat Paluli has his answer from Sivasspor; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Sivasspor have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Goiás waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sivasspor is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
Marked 8.26 — 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.
“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 Sivasspor know it.
Mirko Salvi 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Sivasspor can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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 watch every Sivasspor game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kocaelispor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
Charis Charisis 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 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.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Melih Kabasakal'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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Konyaspor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sivasspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sivasspor. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
İrfan Can Kahveci was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
Marked 8.17 — 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.
A goalkeeper's career is counted in the games nobody scored in, and Raul Bălbărău now has 25 of them across 134 appearances. Nothing about that number was luck.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Ravil Tagir'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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sivasspor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arif Kocaman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sivasspor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.80 on the card, and the Sivasspor support went home talking about one name.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
Raul Bălbărău 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sivasspor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mirko Salvi 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.
“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; Sivasspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Deniz Kokcu after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Vitor Jacaré is on it.
In brief
The dugoutRavil Tagir knocks on the manager's door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kaan Ayhan 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.” Deniz Kokcu after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Iván Cédric is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Melih Kabasakal's mistake
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sivasspor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sivasspor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Iván Cédric and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 Sivasspor, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutRaul Bălbărău is still being punished for one mistake
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A brace, and Iván Cédric takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Iván Cédric provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
İrfan Can Kahveci 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 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 Sivasspor know it.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Cédric 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.
Something was said to Elayis Tavşan and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sivasspor 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.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.12 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sivasspor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Pendikspor waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sivasspor is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: HNK Vukovar 1991 keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chase for Álex Blanco ended with $1.9M changing hands and Umraniyespor out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sivasspor can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sivasspor people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Sivasspor and Umraniyespor have settled on $1.9M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $24.4K of what Sivasspor paid for Florian Loshaj is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.14 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The fee is $1.4M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Keciorengucu drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Lucão has, at Sivasspor, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Umraniyespor have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Elayis Tavşan. 3‑2 against Alanyaspor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $2.7M has been paid because Ozan Demirbağ is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sivasspor have gone to Keciorengucu with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The offer from Umraniyespor for Arif Kocaman 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.5M — a club that wants Lucão enough to be asked twice.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Keciorengucu have kept their man, and Sivasspor 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 Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with Rizespor; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Sivasspor asked and Besiktas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Sivasspor will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Iván Cédric 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 offer went to Rizespor this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Sivasspor offered $6.0K; Istanbulspor said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“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 Sivasspor know it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Trabzonspor; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Eyupspor had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sivasspor have done the hard part with Galatasaray, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kasimpasa have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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; Sivasspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The fee is $310.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Fatih Karagumruk drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
$4.1M on the table at Galatasaray. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Sivasspor asked and Pendikspor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Everything agreed with Fatih Karagumruk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Cédric was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sivasspor have made the call to Galatasaray. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Iván Cédric is on it.
The offer from Eyupspor for Ekrem Kılıçarslan 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.
“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 Sivasspor, 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. Turaç Böke was one of the reasons people came, and $2.0M does not replace that by itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor 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. Besiktas have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Sivasspor have made the call to Spartak Moscow. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
Sivasspor and Hatayspor have settled on $1.3M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $127.5K — a club that wants Ionuţ Gurău enough to be asked twice.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Arda Erdursun has agreed terms with Pendikspor for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sivasspor can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kaan Ayhan 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.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Sivasspor now know that too.
The clubs have shaken hands with Amedspor; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Sivasspor have gone to Istanbulspor with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Oğulcan Ülgün 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.
37 games, 11 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Sivasspor now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad21 May 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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 Sivasspor know it.
Nobody at Sivasspor will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ravil Tagir trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sivasspor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
BoardroomThe Sivasspor production line keeps running
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 May 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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.” Jeison Angulo has his answer from Sivasspor; what he does with it is the next window’s 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 Pedrinho is on it.
1‑4 against Trabzonspor, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
Position 15 on 30 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
“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; Sivasspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A muscle injury sidelines Murat Paluli for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Sivasspor will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sivasspor can tell you which week it ends in.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Ravil Tagir
Iván Cédric 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 Hasan Kuruçay 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 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Nobody at Sivasspor 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.
Goztepe next, and one man in the Sivasspor dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Hasan Kuruçay
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sivasspor can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 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 Sivasspor know 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 Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ravil Tagir trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Deniz Kokcu after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor 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 Iván Cédric is on it.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“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 Sivasspor, 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 Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iván Cédric. 1‑0 against Fatih Karagumruk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hasan Kuruçay 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sivasspor pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“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 dugout26 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Deniz Kokcu kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sivasspor can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sivasspor can tell you which week it ends in.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
9 goals in 29 games at Sariyer — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sivasspor updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Deniz Kokcu after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor 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.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 Oğulcan Ülgün, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
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 0‑1 Deniz Kokcu left the room before anybody could ask which.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sivasspor pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
5 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sivasspor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.03, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
Oğulcan Ülgün 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Vitor Jacaré in the middle of it, and Samsunspor unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Position 16 and 21 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sivasspor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sivasspor can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Manisa FK have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Junior Aliyu 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.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sivasspor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sivasspor can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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.
Kaan Ayhan 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. Bodrum FK have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sivasspor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Sivasspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Kayserispor, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Iván Cédric 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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. Kayserispor have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.67, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor 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.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Iván Cédric 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. Kayserispor have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Sivasspor know it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Sivasspor will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It 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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Turaç Böke scored in the 86th minute, Serikspor had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Sivasspor took the lot.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Corum FK for Turaç Böke 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.
Iván Cédric and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Vitor Jacaré 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.
“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; Sivasspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basaksehir have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Turaç Böke has come up in conversations Sivasspor were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hristiyan Petrov and Sivasspor agree another 4 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré 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. Gaziantep have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sivasspor has been clear about where Murat Paluli stands, which is more than many ever get.
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. Sivasspor know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mirko Salvi has just signed for Sivasspor, and for once the answer mattered.
Iván Cédric 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ekrem Kılıçarslan has his answer from Sivasspor; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ekrem Kılıçarslan, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hasan Kuruçay is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sivasspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Vitor Jacaré falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
14 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
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 Deniz Kokcu to a room that had heard them before.
0‑1 against Viktoria Plzen. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.43 for the rest of it.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sivasspor pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 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 Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Charis Charisis, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
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 Deniz Kokcu to a room that had heard them before.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sivasspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
0‑2 against KAA Gent. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“The easiest signature of my career.” İrfan Can Kahveci and Sivasspor agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sivasspor can tell you which week it ends in.
Iván Cédric 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 is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pedrinho wants continental football; whether Sivasspor can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Iván Cédric 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sivasspor can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 dugout27 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Deniz Kokcu chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Nobody at Sivasspor 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.
1‑0 against LNZ, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Vitor Jacaré 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sivasspor can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sivasspor pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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 Samet Karakoç is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sivasspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Eray Özbek obliged against Manisa FK. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Sivasspor.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.16 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kaan Ayhan commits to Sivasspor for another 2 years.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Vitor Jacaré 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.
“74 caps was 74 more than the boy who started ever expected.” At 34 he has stepped away from the national side and has not stepped away from Sivasspor.
1‑1 against LNZ, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hasan Kuruçay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Pedrinho was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Frank Boya commits to Sivasspor for another 2 years.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Nobody left the Sivasspor dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Vitor Jacaré'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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor 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.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Iván Cédric and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.” Deniz Kokcu after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
Player ratingsVitor Jacaré beats them one at a time
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sivasspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sivasspor, 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 Florian Loshaj is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sivasspor. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
0‑2 against Viktoria Plzen. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
7 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.
Iván Cédric 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hasan Kuruçay 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 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.
“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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Eyupspor defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
5 new faces, and Sivasspor 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.
The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Rey Manaj is somebody else's player now, and $1.5M has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
0‑2 against KAA Gent, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sivasspor can pretend not to have heard.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sivasspor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Sivasspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Jacaré 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 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 Sivasspor know it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sivasspor pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Cihat Çelik
The dugoutHasan Kuruçay is still being punished for one mistake
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sivasspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Genclerbirligi wanted more than $110.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sivasspor asked and Konyaspor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Antalyaspor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $502.8K of what Sivasspor paid for Berkan Keskin is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Genclerbirligi wanted more than $530.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Iván Cédric 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Vitor Jacaré 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.
Sivasspor asked and Vojvodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Sivasspor ran out of time with Bandirmaspor. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Pedrinho is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
A brace, and Vitor Jacaré takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vitor Jacaré provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Sivasspor had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lanús, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 16 combined actions and a mark of 7.59, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
At 22 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Ravil Tagir 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 deal with Fenerbahce 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.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Jacaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sivasspor can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Sivasspor asked and Konyaspor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Sivasspor 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sivasspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kwabena Owusu is living that version at Sivasspor, and it tends to show in the first month.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Fenerbahce is saying, and nobody at Sivasspor is enjoying the guessing.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $600.0K has been paid because Kwabena Owusu is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sakaryaspor have kept their man, and Sivasspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Vitor Jacaré falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Deniz Unal 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Halil Demiral is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdullah Tekdemir is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.