Marked for Daniel Leitz
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Feb 2027
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grodig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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 dugout15 Feb 2027
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
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 dugout8 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grodig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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 targets8 Feb 2027
The clock did what SV Ried would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
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 dugout1 Feb 2027
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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 targets1 Feb 2027
$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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
42 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“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 targets25 Jan 2027
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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 targets4 Jan 2027
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 targets4 Jan 2027
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.
Market4 Jan 2027
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 dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
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 dugout4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grodig may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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 dugout14 Dec 2026
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 dugout14 Dec 2026
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 dugout14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Match21 Nov 2026
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 ratings23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Match21 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Match14 Nov 2026
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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Match5 Oct 2026
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.
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“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 ahead5 Oct 2026
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
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 ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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 ratings28 Sep 2026
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.
Match28 Sep 2026
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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.