Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Eyal Inbrum and Maccabi Petach Tikva agree another 3 years.
“I did not go to Ordabasy to sit and watch. I want to come back to Maccabi Petach Tikva and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Guy Dezent 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tomer Peleg and Maccabi Petach Tikva agree another 4 years.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maccabi Petach Tikva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Reza Torabi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Salem Al-Maqadi has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nowaf Bazia and Maccabi Petach Tikva agree another 3 years.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ali Mohamed signs something — a contract at Maccabi Petach Tikva or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Maccabi Petach Tikva that is a harder question to answer.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Bagus Jaya arrives from Persib with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The offer from Club Brugge for Giuliano Gurrieri 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.
Omar El Mansouri 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.
6 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Guy Dezent and Maccabi Petach Tikva agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maccabi Petach Tikva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
Player ratingsJosé Cortés changes it off the bench
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.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Position 12 and 22 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.
Omar El Mansouri 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.
Position 12 and 22 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.
Osagie Onisodumeya 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.
Sulaiman Salisu is 20, and Maccabi Petach Tikva have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Maccabi Petach Tikva that is a harder question to answer.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. José Cortés keeps the shirt for now, at Maccabi Petach Tikva's convenience rather than his own.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maccabi Petach Tikva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Maccabi Petach Tikva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Maccabi Petach Tikva would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Maccabi Petach Tikva that is a harder question to answer.
“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.
8 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.
Marked 8.19 — 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.
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.
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. Maccabi Petach Tikva have a player doing his work under protest.