Marked for Samson Ngulube
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Dec 2029
Hemmo Riihimäki damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
95 days out for Noa Lindén after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. IFK Mariehamn will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Henri Salomaa 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.
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albert Boakye was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Dec 2029
Samson Ngulube is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at IFK Mariehamn has been clear about where Samson Ngulube stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joas Snellman, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout8 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” IFK Mariehamn may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Henri Salomaa 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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastian Dahlström and IFK Mariehamn agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Armend Kabashi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Oct 2029
A place in the month's best eleven for Henri Salomaa
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Henri Salomaa has come out of that comparison in the side, and IFK Mariehamn have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
Arvid Bergvik gets picked when it counts
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 Arvid Bergvik is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Oct 2029
Edarlyn Reyes 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at IFK Mariehamn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albert Boakye 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. IFK Mariehamn told Hemmo Riihimäki something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IFK Mariehamn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Vincent Ulundu 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Samson Ngulube and IFK Mariehamn agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Lorenzo Appiah slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lorenzo Appiah is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samson Ngulube, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
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 Sebastian Suvanne is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2028
Noah Nurmi 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at IFK Mariehamn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armend Kabashi 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.
Market20 Nov 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Edarlyn Reyes’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad31 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IFK Mariehamn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Samson Ngulube 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.