Adar Ratner

Central Midfielder - Maccabi Petach Tikva
13 Jun 2027
Sunday
Process

Marked for Adar Ratner

44 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Franck Rivollier damages knee ligaments — 105 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 105 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.

Squad

27 days out for Macarrão after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Maccabi Petach Tikva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Ofek Biton in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maccabi Petach Tikva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Ofek Biton 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.

Squad

Home is on Macarrão's mind

“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; Maccabi Petach Tikva are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

The dugout

Victor Gabriel knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Maccabi Petach Tikva, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

Back issues
40 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Ben Lederman 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.

Squad

Edson 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.

Loan watch

Liran Hazan wants to come home

“I did not go to Bnei Sakhnin to sit and watch. I want to come back to Maccabi Petach Tikva and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Maor Erlich

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Edson has been promised minutes

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 Edson has written the date down.

Market

Adar Ratner linked with a move away

The name of Adar Ratner keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Maccabi Petach Tikva say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

36 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Victor Gabriel says Maccabi Petach Tikva went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words at Maccabi Petach Tikva training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ofek Biton 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.

Squad

A late step up for Maor Erlich

At 24 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Idan Dahan 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.

Squad

Macarrão wants to go home

“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 Maccabi Petach Tikva know it.

The dugout

Ofek Biton knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Maccabi Petach Tikva, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

32 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ariel Lugassy damages knee ligaments — 35 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.

Squad

José Cortés signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” José Cortés commits to Maccabi Petach Tikva for another 2 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Ofek Biton and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

23 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Samuel Owusu out for 66 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Maccabi Petach Tikva will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Aviv Salem hands in a written request

“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 Petach Tikva can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Maccabi Petach Tikva say no — this time

The offer from Maccabi Haifa for Guy Dezent 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.

Player ratings

Nowaf Bazia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A row about effort at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ofek Biton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Eitan Tibi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Ido Cohen stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ido Cohen and Maccabi Petach Tikva agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

Maccabi Petach Tikva ask about Jubayer Bushnak

A loan enquiry to Bnei Sakhnin: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Mor Buskila is in the works

Maccabi Petach Tikva have made the call to Hapoel Tel Aviv. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

22 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Samuel Owusu breaks a bone — 74 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 74 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

A brace, and José Cortés takes the afternoon — 8.66

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. José Cortés provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

A row about effort at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ben Lederman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

José Cortés the difference as Maccabi Petach Tikva beat Hapoel Raanana

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: José Cortés. 2‑0 against Hapoel Raanana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Idan Dahan was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Edson

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edson, and the manager let it.

Squad

A falling-out at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Idan Dahan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nir Shechter kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

Maccabi Petach Tikva pick somebody else ahead of Roee Fucs

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.

In brief

16 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Ben Lederman 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.

Match

Maccabi Petach Tikva end the wait against Bnei Sakhnin

It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Match

Maccabi Petach Tikva see off Bnei Sakhnin

Three points for Maccabi Petach Tikva, 1‑0 the final word against Bnei Sakhnin in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Edson 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Nowaf Bazia

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to José Cortés

A mark of 7.87, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

The dugout

A satisfied Nir Shechter

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Nir Shechter could afford to be generous.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Mohammed Hindi

“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.

Looking ahead

A test against the best for Maccabi Petach Tikva

The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In brief

  • Looking ahead Ben Lederman faces his old club
  • The dugout The plan did not have a place for Edson
  • The dugout Adar Ratner unhappy with how he is being used
15 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Maccabi Petach Tikva's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Maccabi Petach Tikva has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Samuel Owusu signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samuel Owusu and Maccabi Petach Tikva agree another 3 years.

Squad

Words at Maccabi Petach Tikva training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ben Lederman 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.

Match

Maccabi Petach Tikva cannot find the net

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.

Match

Hapoel Kiryat Shmona take the points off Maccabi Petach Tikva

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

José Cortés beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Edson

“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.

Squad

Idan Dahan in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maccabi Petach Tikva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

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 Nir Shechter to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

14 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Maccabi Petach Tikva

A 0‑3 beating by Beitar Jerusalem was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Match

No end in sight to Maccabi Petach Tikva's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Maccabi Petach Tikva has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A row about effort at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ben Lederman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Eitan Tibi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maccabi Petach Tikva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Eitan Tibi 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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Maccabi Petach Tikva dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

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 0‑3 Nir Shechter left the room before anybody could ask which.

Squad

Maccabi Petach Tikva take the armband off Adar Ratner

It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.

Player ratings

Nowaf Bazia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

  • The dugout When it matters, Guy Dezent plays
  • Looking ahead Eitan Tibi faces his old club
  • The dugout Edson does not fit this one
13 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Still nobody has beaten Maccabi Petach Tikva

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Ben Lederman 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 dugout

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.” Nir Shechter chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

Player ratings

Nowaf Bazia was unplayable

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.

Squad

Eitan Melikson, 16, is the weekend’s best young player

Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Maccabi Petach Tikva would like this to lead.

Match

Maccabi Petach Tikva draw a blank against Hapoel Haifa

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Hapoel Haifa defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Looking ahead

Eitan Tibi goes back to face Beitar Jerusalem

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Eitan Tibi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Maccabi Petach Tikva needing him to play as if none of it matters.

Market

Ofek Biton linked with a move away

The name of Ofek Biton keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Maccabi Petach Tikva say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

No place in the plan for Edson

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

11 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Roee Fucs says Maccabi Petach Tikva went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Nowaf Bazia signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nowaf Bazia commits to Maccabi Petach Tikva for another 3 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ben Lederman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Late improvement for Dor Hebron

At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near José Cortés

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A falling-out at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Dor Hebron and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Something was said to Ben Lederman and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nir Shechter was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Maccabi Petach Tikva dressing room was either.

The dugout

Maor Erlich 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.

In brief

8 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

José Cortés runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 48. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A row about effort at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ben Lederman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Maccabi Petach Tikva

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Tempers go at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Idan Dahan 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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nir Shechter was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Maccabi Petach Tikva dressing room was either.

Match

Maccabi Petach Tikva and Hapoel Acre cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Hapoel Acre came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Looking ahead

Ben Vahaba faces his old club

Hapoel Raanana next, and one man in the Maccabi Petach Tikva dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Edson

Nobody at Maccabi Petach Tikva 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.

Market

Aviv Salem placed on the list

Maccabi Petach Tikva have made Aviv Salem available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

2 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Maccabi Petach Tikva rebuffed over Daniel Dappa

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hapoel Tel Aviv have kept their man, and Maccabi Petach Tikva go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Adar Ratner stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Adar Ratner and Maccabi Petach Tikva agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words at Maccabi Petach Tikva training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ofek Biton 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.

Market

Maccabi Petach Tikva promote Guy Natcho from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Guy Natcho 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.

Market

One of our own: Omer Natcho joins the Maccabi Petach Tikva first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Omer Natcho is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Sagiv Cohen steps up from the Maccabi Petach Tikva academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sagiv Cohen has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Almog Refaelov joins the Maccabi Petach Tikva first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Almog Refaelov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Tempers go at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Eitan Tibi 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.

Squad

7 new faces, and Maccabi Petach Tikva 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Maccabi Petach Tikva Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nowaf Bazia signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nowaf Bazia commits to Maccabi Petach Tikva for another 4 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Maccabi Petach Tikva

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adar Ratner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Eitan Tibi in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Maccabi Petach Tikva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Maccabi Petach Tikva try to borrow Ben Lederman

Maccabi Tel Aviv have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Transfer targets

Maccabi Petach Tikva ask about Roee Fucs

A loan enquiry to Maccabi Haifa: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Market

The clock runs on Nowaf Bazia's contract

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.

The dugout

Adar Ratner knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adar Ratner trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Still no ink between Maccabi Petach Tikva and Omer Shirazi

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Maccabi Petach Tikva, another week without a signature from Omer Shirazi.

Squad

Samuel Owusu handed the armband

The captaincy goes to Samuel Owusu. It is not a job that wins matches, but a dressing room always notices who is given it.

In brief