Marked for Jamal Mohammed
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jul 2031
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.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
Jagiellonia and Motor Lublin have settled on $280.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Match26 Jul 2031
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 10 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
The offer went to Raków Częstochowa 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.
Market28 Jul 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jagiellonia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
The deal with Karpaty is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Boardroom28 Jul 2031
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Adam Ratajczyk has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Boardroom28 Jul 2031
Jagiellonia still without a manager
9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Boardroom28 Jul 2031
Gornik Zabrze will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Marco Coronas has pre-agreed a move to Jagiellonia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Jun 2031
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jagiellonia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market30 Jun 2031
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Jagiellonia have done the hard part with Cracovia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market30 Jun 2031
Only the photograph left for Jamal Mohammed
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jamal Mohammed will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jagiellonia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Jagiellonia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guilherme Montóia 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.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lech have kept their man, and Jagiellonia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Bartosz Borowski 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.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
A loan enquiry to Slovacko: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Jun 2031
The bid was some way short and Jagiellonia did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market2 Jun 2031
“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 Jagiellonia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Jun 2031
The name of Tamar Svetlin has come up in conversations Jagiellonia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market2 Jun 2031
Jamal Mohammed has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jagiellonia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom2 Jun 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jamal Mohammed has agreed terms with Gornik Zabrze for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge Cabello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets2 Jun 2031
Jagiellonia asked and Lech said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Jun 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jagiellonia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout2 Jun 2031
Something was said to Jorge Cabello and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 May 2031
Only the photograph left for Filip Jagiełło
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Jagiełło will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jagiellonia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 May 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge Cabello was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 May 2031
Bartosz Borowski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 May 2031
Martin Minchev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Jagiellonia 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.
The dugout12 May 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josip Perković, and the manager let it.
Market12 May 2031
The Nik Prelec story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nik Prelec signs something — a contract at Jagiellonia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 May 2031
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Jagiellonia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad12 May 2031
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Jagiellonia would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market12 May 2031
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout14 Apr 2031
Jamal Mohammed: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jagiellonia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Apr 2031
Only the photograph left for Filip Jagiełło
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Jagiełło will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Jagiellonia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Kacper Śmiglewski 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.
Market14 Apr 2031
A conversation is coming this week. Jagiellonia will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Jorge Cabello 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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jakub Antczak commits to Jagiellonia for another 3 years.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
Martin Minchev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Jagiellonia 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.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kacper Śmiglewski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Strahinja Ristić, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Nov 2030
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Jorge Cabello 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 dugout18 Nov 2030
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 Martin Minchev is on it.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
The manager makes an example of Jakub Budnicki
“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 dugout18 Nov 2030
Something was said to Marek Mróz and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market18 Nov 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Leon Flach’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Looking ahead18 Nov 2030
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kamil Odolak’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Jagiellonia needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
Pau Resta 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 Pau Resta has written the date down.
Squad18 Nov 2030
Jamal Mohammed wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Jagiellonia have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Oct 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jagiellonia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market14 Oct 2030
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Leon Flach 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 Jagiellonia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Jorge Cabello 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 dugout14 Oct 2030
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 Dušan Stojinović is on it.
Market14 Oct 2030
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Jagiellonia has been clear about where Moritz Würdinger stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Ratajczyk, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
Pau Resta 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 Jagiellonia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead14 Oct 2030
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lech in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Sep 2030
Martin Minchev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jagiellonia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.38, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Jorge Cabello 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.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Pau Resta 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 Jagiellonia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Sep 2030
It finished 2‑0, and it was Tamar Svetlin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Jagiellonia.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Ninety minutes of Martin Minchev at his very best
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Jagiellonia.
Squad16 Sep 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Karol Moder commits to Jagiellonia for another 3 years.
The dugout16 Sep 2030
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.” Mateusz Moder kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout16 Sep 2030
Dušan Stojinović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Jagiellonia 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Nov 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
“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.
Boardroom26 Nov 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jakub Uhrinčať has agreed terms with Korona for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakub Uhrinčať was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Nov 2029
Wages swallow 138% of the Miedź Legnica income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad26 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Miedź Legnica this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Nov 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Oct 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad29 Oct 2029
20 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match27 Oct 2029
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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Erdal Rakip and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Miedź Legnica training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jakub Uhrinčať 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 dugout29 Oct 2029
“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.
Boardroom29 Oct 2029
130% of the income goes out in wages at Miedź Legnica
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.07 on the card, and the Miedź Legnica support went home talking about one name.