71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SV Elversberg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” SV Elversberg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” SV Elversberg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what SV Elversberg 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 SV Elversberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Christian Corradi is living that version at SV Elversberg, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at SV Elversberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ezechiel Banzuzi 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bayer Leverkusen have kept their man, and SV Elversberg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Hannover 96; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Leon Avdullahu 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Daniel Nnodim is living that version at SV Elversberg, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at SV Elversberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wesley Lima is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Young Violets can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from VfL Bochum 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Nnodim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Julian Roider.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konstantin Aleksa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadHasan Deshishku, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ante Kuliš reports back to Young Violets with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Konstantin Aleksa did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Konstantin Aleksa. 1‑0 against Amstetten, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Young Violets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lars Stöckl 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 clubs have shaken hands with Wolfsberger AC; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $910.0K has been paid because Daniel Sumbu is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
The chase for Rene Kriwak ended with $1.1M changing hands and WSG Tirol out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
$500.0K on the table at St. Pölten. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The fee is $490.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Austria Klagenfurt drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Johannes Eggestein 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.
Austria Wien have gone to Red Bull Salzburg with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The phone has started ringing about Austin Harrison again, and this time the name on the line is Abia Warriors. Austria Wien are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
SquadMoses Usor falls out with a teammate over standards
“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.
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.
“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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
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.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Martin Ádám’s negotiating for him