Marked for Solomon James
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Montana
Position 15 and 20 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.
Market17 May 2027
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Montana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vasil Simeonov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Montana
Martin Atanasov 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Vajebah Sakor 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 Montana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 May 2027
The Ivan Kokonov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Montana know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad17 May 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Montana will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market17 May 2027
Montana have let the market know Ibrahim Keïta can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout17 May 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Montana. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces3 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Montana board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market3 May 2027
Ibrahim Keïta 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 Montana can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
“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; Montana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Montana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chidera Micheal 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.
Market3 May 2027
“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.
The dugout3 May 2027
Stefan Statev 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 Stefan Statev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Petar Atanasov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market3 May 2027
The name of Vasil Simeonov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Montana say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 2027
“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 Montana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Montana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chidera Micheal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chavdar Ivaylov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of David Carmona keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Montana say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
When it matters, Márcio Rosa plays
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Nerves in the Montana squad
Elijah Dijkstra has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Montana. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Montana can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Montana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vasil Simeonov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“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 Montana know it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Too much change too quickly at Montana
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“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.