Marked for Antonio Palac
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Stjarnan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match8 Jul 2028
Whatever happens, Stjarnan do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market10 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darri Bergmann Gylfason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Alex Þór Hauksson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Stjarnan is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Jul 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 Stjarnan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Árni Snær Ólafsson, and the manager let it.
Match8 Jul 2028
The run is over for Stjarnan
4 matches without defeat, and then Fylkir. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Match8 Jul 2028
It needed Alpha Conteh to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Fylkir, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Damil Dankerlui'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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout24 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Sindri Þór Ingimarsson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Stjarnan is pretending otherwise.
Market24 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stjarnan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Stjarnan
Stígur Diljan Þórðarson 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 dugout24 Apr 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 Benedikt V. Warén is on it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Stjarnan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Frane Bobanović 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.
Market24 Apr 2028
The name of Emil Atlason keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Stjarnan say nothing, which says plenty.
Market24 Apr 2028
Stjarnan have made Emil Atlason available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A season on the outside for Antonio Palac
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Stjarnan has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Squad24 Apr 2028
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Stjarnan the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stjarnan can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Alex Þór Hauksson has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Stjarnan is pretending otherwise.
Market17 Apr 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darri Bergmann Gylfason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Stjarnan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Stjarnan
Örvar Eggertsson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Stjarnan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Árni Snær Ólafsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Nobody at Stjarnan 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
“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 dugout17 Apr 2028
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market17 Apr 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stjarnan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.