$170.0K was the most the club would pay and Hapoel Acre were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Diba 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Willy Agada signs something — a contract at Hapoel Haifa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hapoel Haifa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yaad Gonen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
The shirt still fits. Liam Hermesh is back at Hapoel Haifa, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Haifa can pretend not to have heard.
Aaron Spetale 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.
At 30 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Hapoel Haifa spend $1.7M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.7M for Liam Hermesh, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Hapoel Kfar Saba paid $130.0K and Hapoel Haifa took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Maccabi Netanya have accepted the money. What Maccabi Haifa do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Beitar Jerusalem wanted more than $2.1M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Maccabi Haifa can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Haladas keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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.
Maccabi Haifa asked and Maccabi Netanya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maccabi Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadBruninho has improved at 27, which nobody expected
SquadManuel Benson falls out with a teammate over standards
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hapoel Kfar Saba waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hapoel Haifa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer went to Maccabi Haifa this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud 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 Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shai Elias trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Rotem Hatuel is on it.
Beitar Jerusalem wanted more than $3.8M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The offer went to Beitar Jerusalem this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hapoel Tel Aviv have kept their man, and Maccabi Haifa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jelle Bataille was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Noam Ben-Harush 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Haifa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrija Radulović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Álvaro Busso and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Loan watch17 May 2027
Yoav Gerafi’s loan is measured in nothing happening
7 clean sheets from 24 appearances at Hapoel Haifa. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sa'ar Fadida trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hapoel Haifa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Matheus Destro are not good
Words at Maccabi Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cédric Don 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.
Sean Goldberg 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.
“I watch every Maccabi Haifa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hapoel Haifa runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Xander Severina trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Kenny Saief has written the date down.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Jelle Bataille’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Aaron Spetale 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.
Hapoel Beer Sheva will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Badhuga has pre-agreed a move to Hapoel Haifa, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Hermesh 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.
“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; Hapoel Haifa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Haifa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hapoel Haifa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Willy Agada 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Hermesh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
24 appearances at Hapoel Haifa and the goals have stopped going in. Hapoel Haifa lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maccabi Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Cédric Don 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 did not go to Hapoel Haifa to sit and watch. I want to come back to Maccabi Haifa and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sayed Abu Farchi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maccabi Haifa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Hermesh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Rotem Hatuel is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and George Diba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrija Radulović 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shai Elias trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
Yoav Gerafi’s loan is measured in nothing happening
7 clean sheets from 24 appearances at Hapoel Haifa. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Aaron Spetale 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.
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Liam Hermesh 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ori Peretz is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Matan Solomon has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Hermesh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Liran Rotman was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and Hapoel Haifa 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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrija Radulović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Maccabi Haifa held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Hapoel Haifa answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Hapoel Haifa will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Hapoel Haifa have made the call to Hapoel Beer Sheva. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Maccabi Haifa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Maccabi Tel Aviv is saying, and nobody at Maccabi Haifa is enjoying the guessing.
Guy Melamed 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 Jelle Bataille was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Gil Cohen has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Maccabi Haifa have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Maccabi Haifa asked and Beitar Jerusalem said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Maccabi Tel Aviv did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $4.5M for Noam Ben-Harush, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Maccabi Haifa can pretend not to have heard.
Maccabi Tel Aviv wanted more than $1.3M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Guy Melamed 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.
Noam Ben-Harush was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $4.5M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jelle Bataille was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Hapoel Tel Aviv have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Liam Hermesh. The answer from Maccabi Haifa has not changed — yet.