Daniel Leitz

Attacking Midfielder (C) - Grodig
9 Mar 2027
Tuesday
Process

Marked for Daniel Leitz

30 Edition

The Grodig Courier

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Every point is an argument now for Grodig

Position 10 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Squad

David Hillebrand breaks a bone — 57 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Akaki Gogia in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

Back issues
29 Edition

The Grodig Courier

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

64 days out for David Hillebrand after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Grodig will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Leon Bätge keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grodig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Alexander Schwaighofer in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Patrick Bauer 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 dugout

Leon Klußmann knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leon Klußmann trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Nerves in the Grodig squad

Akaki Gogia has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.

In brief

28 Edition

The Grodig Courier

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules David Hillebrand out for 73 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Grodig will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Daniel Leitz keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grodig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Simon Ernemann puts it in writing

“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 Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at Grodig

Leon Klußmann 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.

Squad

Words at Grodig training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrick Bauer 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.

Transfer targets

Deadline beats Grodig to Michael Sollbauer

The clock did what SV Ried would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

In brief

27 Edition

The Grodig Courier

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

80 days out for David Hillebrand after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Grodig will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Vlado Graboviča says Grodig went back on their word

“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.

Market

David Drljić puts it in writing

“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 Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

$95.0K settles it between the clubs for Michael Sollbauer

SV Ried have accepted the money. What Grodig do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone

That is the business done at Grodig until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Squad

Grodig lose Akaki Gogia

42 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Transfer targets

Stefan Lazaro due for a Grodig medical

Everything agreed with Red Bull Salzburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

A falling-out at Grodig

Akaki Gogia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Grodig

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patrick Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

26 Edition

The Grodig Courier

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Grodig sink to position 10

5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

David Hillebrand breaks a bone — 87 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Daniel Leitz puts it in writing

“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 Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Akaki Gogia in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Grodig

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patrick Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Shqipon Bektasi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shqipon Bektasi, and the manager let it.

Transfer targets

Grodig ask about Bruno Ramos

A loan enquiry to Sporting CP: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

The dugout

Vlado Graboviča asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

The manager makes Leon Klußmann a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Grodig. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

23 Edition

The Grodig Courier

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Grodig

Akaki Gogia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Patrick Bauer 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.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Jonas Harder is in the works

Grodig have made the call to Basel. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Benjamin Nyarko is in the works

Grodig have made the call to Admira Wacker. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Market

The shop window has Daniel Leitz in it

Grodig have let the market know Daniel Leitz can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

The dugout

Andrej Lazarevic knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrej Lazarevic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Boardroom

Open for business: Grodig enter the window

The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.

The dugout

Leon Klußmann has been promised minutes

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 Leon Klußmann has written the date down.

Squad

The training reports on Daniel Leitz are not good

A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.

In brief

21 Edition

The Grodig Courier

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Patrick Scheibenhofer keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grodig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at Grodig

Patrick Bauer and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Leon Klußmann 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.

In brief

20 Edition

The Grodig Courier

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Grodig

Akaki Gogia 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Grodig

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Patrick Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Shqipon Bektasi

“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 dugout

Daniel Leitz knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Leitz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

The manager makes Leon Klußmann a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Grodig. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Squad

Nerves in the Grodig squad

Richard Sukuta-Pasu has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.

In brief

19 Edition

The Grodig Courier

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Grodig

Akaki Gogia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Simon Ernemann 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.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Peter Tschernegg

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Peter Tschernegg has come out of that comparison in the side, and Grodig have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout

David Hillebrand gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Vlado Graboviča knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grodig, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

Daniel Leitz is not saying it is over

“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 34 with 238 appearances behind him, and Grodig have to plan for both answers.

In brief

17 Edition

The Grodig Courier

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Grodig taken apart

1‑4 to Red Bull Salzburg, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Leon Klußmann

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

The wait goes on for Grodig

6 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.

Player ratings

Peter Tschernegg pops up at the right end — 7.60

7.60, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

Tempers go at Grodig

Akaki Gogia 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.

Match

Grodig leaking at the back

5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.

Squad

Words at Grodig training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrick Bauer 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 dugout

No hiding place for Leon Bätge

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leon Bätge, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Grodig 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.

In brief

16 Edition

The Grodig Courier

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Grodig's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Grodig has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Words exchanged at Grodig

Akaki Gogia 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.

Match

Altach take the points off Grodig

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Words at Grodig training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Patrick Bauer 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.

Match

Grodig are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

The dugout

No hiding place for Daniel Leitz

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Leitz, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Peter Kalajdzic faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Peter Kalajdzic after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Maximilian Gsenger left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Maximilian Gsenger will call it something else in private.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Maximilian Gsenger

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

10 Edition

The Grodig Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

11 matches without a win for Grodig

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Grodig are no longer polite ones.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Grodig

Position 10 and 2 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.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Grodig

A 0‑4 beating by Austria Wien was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Match

Grodig are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Market

David Drljić asks to leave Grodig

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Akaki Gogia in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Robert Völkl

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Robert Völkl, and the manager let it.

Looking ahead

A six-pointer for Grodig

Mattersburg next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Grodig 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.

In brief

9 Edition

The Grodig Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Grodig

10 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.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Grodig

9 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Player ratings

Nick Scharkowski scores twice — 8.31

Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Tempers go at Grodig

Akaki Gogia 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.

Match

Nick Scharkowski’s goal not enough for Grodig

Nick Scharkowski scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Rapid Wien, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

A row about effort at Grodig

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Pokar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Akaki Gogia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

The half-term report on Grodig

Position 10, 2 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.

The dugout

Peter Kalajdzic: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

8 Edition

The Grodig Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Grodig's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Grodig has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Grodig

A 0‑4 beating by Red Bull Salzburg was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Grodig

8 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Squad

A falling-out at Grodig

Peter Tschernegg and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Grodig training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Pokar 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Vlado Graboviča

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Grodig 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 dugout

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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Peter Kalajdzic to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Daniel Leitz

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

7 Edition

The Grodig Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Grodig taken apart

0‑3 to Altach, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Match

8 matches without a win for Grodig

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Grodig are no longer polite ones.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Grodig

7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Squad

Tempers go at Grodig

Patrick Bauer 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 dugout

No hiding place for Peter Tschernegg

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Peter Tschernegg, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Grodig

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Squad

Grodig are still strangers to each other

12 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.

The dugout

Peter Kalajdzic answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

Darryl Geurts is a square peg at Grodig

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

In brief