Marked for Rakhim Chaadaev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Aguirre and Lucko agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 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 Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Hatayspor
8 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Eren Elmalı 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 Hatayspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
187% of the income goes out in wages at Hatayspor
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 ratings5 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Recep Burak Yılmaz. Hatayspor will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Hatayspor?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Adana Demirspor? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hatayspor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
David Jablonský 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Demir Sarıcalı 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 Hatayspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
5.38 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ünal Durmuşhan and Hatayspor agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Recep Burak Yılmaz 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Demir Sarıcalı’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
Rakhim Chaadaev is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Hatayspor has been clear about where Rakhim Chaadaev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Hatayspor, another week without a signature from Muhammed Gönülaçar.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ünal Durmuşhan 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 Hatayspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.