“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Young Violets can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Roider 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.
David Ewemade 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikołaj Sawicki trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Young Violets will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Valentin Toifl signs something — a contract at Young Violets or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Felix Fischer is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Young Violets and Sturm Graz II in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
Hasan Deshishku, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.89
A mark of 7.89 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Young Violets, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Marijan Österreicher, marked 7.68, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marijan Österreicher commits to Young Violets for another 5 years.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
Julian Roider 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.
25 goals and a season average of 7.47. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
A brace, and Martin Ádám takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Ádám provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Young Violets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. David Ewemade has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It finished 2‑0, and it was Martin Ádám’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Young Violets.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Julian Roider 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Julian Höller and Young Violets agree another 5 years.
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
In brief
The dugoutFilip Lukić dropped after a run of poor form
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.56 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Felix Fischer did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
First Vienna made Young Violets work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Felix Fischer has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Konstantin Aleksa and Young Violets agree another 4 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Young Violets can pretend not to have heard.
Mikołaj Sawicki 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 Aleksa Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Young Violets will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Felix Fischer 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.
FAC Wien left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Roider 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.
9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Filip Lukić
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.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.15 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
Level with 86 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Young Violets had all but put away. Amstetten will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Martin Ádám wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Martin Ádám found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. David Ewemade has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julian Roider was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julian Roider 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.
In brief
Looking aheadYoung Violets take on the side everybody is chasing
A brace, and Martin Ádám takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Ádám provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Felix Fischer 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Aleksa Ilić 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.
At 21 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Martin Ádám. 2‑0 against Stripfing, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Hertha Wels will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Young Violets were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
A brace, and Martin Ádám takes the afternoon — 9.17
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Ádám provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hasan Deshishku and Young Violets agree another 5 years.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Aleksa Ilić 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Julian Roider 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.
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. Young Violets know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Position 16, 11 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.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Marked 7.66 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
Julian Roider 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.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Rapid Wien II on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
A point taken on 92 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Young Violets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hasan Deshishku did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Mame Wade 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.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julian Roider 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 Young Violets know it.
11 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.
Mame Wade 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 Nov 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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 done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Young Violets will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Felix Fischer 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Felix Fischer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutFilip Lukić dropped after a run of poor form
Position 16 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.
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.
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.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matteo Schablas and Young Violets agree another 4 years.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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 Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikołaj Sawicki trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A brace, and Martin Ádám takes the afternoon — 8.71
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martin Ádám provided it, and the 8.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Romeo Mörth 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Aleksa Ilić 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 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.
Shots: 4. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
In brief
The dugoutJulian Roider asks for a word with the manager
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Aleksa Ilić 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.
Julian Roider 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Martin Ádám has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Filip Lukić
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Young Violets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“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 Young Violets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
6 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
Mikołaj Sawicki 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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Martin Ádám was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. 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.
A point taken on 88 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Young Violets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A 3‑1 win over Hertha Wels, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Aleksa Ilić 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.
Julian Roider and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Felix Fischer is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
Player ratingsDavid Ewemade beats them one at a time
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Romeo Mörth signs something — a contract at Young Violets or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Young Violets can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Lars Stöckl 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.
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Young Violets will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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.
David Ewemade and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Romeo Mörth signs something — a contract at Young Violets or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Young Violets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Ewemade and Young Violets agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Valentin Toifl signs something — a contract at Young Violets or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 15 and 18 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.
Romeo Mörth and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Toifl is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Lars Stöckl has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Romeo Mörth 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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 done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Young Violets will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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 Romeo Mörth is on it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sebastian Lindner was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Young Violets dressing room was either.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Valentin Toifl did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Young Violets can tell you which week it ends in.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Valentin Toifl has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sebastian Lindner was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Young Violets dressing room was either.
Position 14 and 15 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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Young Violets can tell you which week it ends in.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kenan Jusič and Young Violets agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Aleksa Ilić 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sebastian Lindner 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.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Young Violets can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Toifl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
David Ewemade and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Sebastian Lindner left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Romeo Mörth is on it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Daniel Nnodim is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Aleksa Ilić 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 Young Violets know it.
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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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.” Sebastian Lindner chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastian Lindner after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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 Romeo Mörth is on it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Sebastian Lindner was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Young Violets dressing room was either.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
0‑1 to Austria Klagenfurt, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Nnodim commits to Young Violets for another 4 years.
The dugout14 Dec 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sebastian Lindner to a room that had heard them before.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Young Violets will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nobody at Young Violets is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Young Violets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Aleksa Ilić 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.
David Ewemade 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastian Lindner after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Young Violets 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Beat anybody else and it is three points. Beat them, with his name on it, and it is a year of bragging rights for Young Violets and a story that will outlast his contract.
Romeo Mörth 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.
At 19 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sebastian Lindner on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
The dugoutMarcel Stöger knocks on the manager's door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Young Violets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Young Violets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
At 18 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Position 14 and 8 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.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
At 20 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Murtaza Abrahmi. 2‑0 against FC Liefering, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Aleksa Ilić 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kenan Jusič is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sebastian Lindner on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Two goals and a mark of 9.42 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vasilije Marković did not need any: 8.04, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lars Stöckl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A Young Violets teenager takes the young player award
Murtaza Abrahmi is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
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.
David Ewemade 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 easiest signature of my career.” Marcel Stöger and Young Violets agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksa Ilić 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 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.
Position 16 and 1 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vasilije Marković did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Vasilije Marković has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastian Lindner after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matteo Schablas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
At 20 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Young Violets have a decision that made itself.
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sebastian Lindner after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A touch he did not mean and a goal that goes in the book with his name against it. Young Violets will not blame him tonight and he will not need them to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksa Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A mark of 7.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
5 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.
Julian Roider 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.” Sebastian Lindner after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lars Stöckl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Young Violets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasilije Marković 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sebastian Lindner after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Mikołaj Sawicki 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.
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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Sebastian Lindner left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad17 Aug 2026
David Ewemade 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 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.
Nobody at Young Violets is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Mikołaj Sawicki keeps the shirt for now, at Young Violets's convenience rather than his own.
The offer from Kapfenberg for Stefan Blaževič 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikołaj Sawicki was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.