Marked for Marcelo Costa
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
This is not rotation. Evgeny Bashkirov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at IF Gnistan is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Dec 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ayo Obileye was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at IF Gnistan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rachide Gnanou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Ayo Obileye 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
“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; IF Gnistan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at IF Gnistan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rachide Gnanou 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at IF Gnistan has been clear about where Evgeny Bashkirov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcelo Costa and IF Gnistan agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vertti Hänninen, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Rachide Gnanou 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Evgeny Bashkirov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Benjamin Dahlström and IF Gnistan agree another 3 years.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Otto Hannula 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Saku Ylätupa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at IF Gnistan 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at IF Gnistan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rachide Gnanou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Juhani Ojala is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every IF Gnistan game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ekenäs IF runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Joakim Latonen is on it.
Market19 Oct 2026
The Saku Ylätupa story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Saku Ylätupa signs something — a contract at IF Gnistan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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 dugout19 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Álex Craninx keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Álex Craninx plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Petteri Forsell damages knee ligaments — 104 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 104 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KTP may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at KTP
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Christian Chibuzor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KTP this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcelo Costa, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Petteri Forsell
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. KTP lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KTP may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at KTP
Marcelo Costa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rachide Gnanou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at IF Gnistan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Arko-Mensah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and IF Gnistan 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Gabriel Europaeus 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Saku Ylätupa gets picked when it counts
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 Saku Ylätupa is on it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Danny Pérez and IF Gnistan agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ayo Obileye was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Rachide Gnanou 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 terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: KTP have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marcelo Costa. The answer from IF Gnistan has not changed — yet.
Match1 Aug 2026
Three points for IF Gnistan, 1‑0 the final word against AC Oulu in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad3 Aug 2026
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout3 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Maksym Zhuk
There were 7 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Atomu Tanaka and KTP agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at KTP
Atomu Tanaka 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Arttu Tulehmo again, and this time the name on the line is KäPa. KTP are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
KTP asked and Ekenäs IF 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 terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ahmed Adebayo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to KTP.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The formation has left Timi Lahti behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. KTP will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.