“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Madura United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Madura United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jordy Wehrmann 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Hugo Samir has, at Madura United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Jajá had Madura United level again within 4 minutes, and Bali United never got to play with a lead at all.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Julen Ansó will call it something else in private.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“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 The request is on a desk at Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mohammad Al-Husseini 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Astina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mohammad Al-Husseini will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Astina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Borneo asked and Danubio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Persebaya waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Borneo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Persis moved on, Dika Nurdiansyah reports back to Borneo, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Mohammad Al-Husseini 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Astina 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Tegar Islami has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The phone has started ringing about Hugo Samir again, and this time the name on the line is Persebaya. Borneo are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
In brief
The dugoutRayhan Utina faces a manager he fell out with
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Borneo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.64, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Mohammad Al-Husseini 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.
6 goals in one match, Hugo Samir on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Borneo and Persis.
Squad21 May 2029
Marcos Astina 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Latorre, and the manager let it.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rizky Ridho 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.
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Borneo expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Rayhan Utina.
The dugout7 May 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ahmad Irawan left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad7 May 2029
A place in the month's best eleven for Evan Beckham
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Evan Beckham has come out of that comparison in the side, and Borneo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mohammad Al-Husseini has agreed terms with Persib for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Agustín RodrÍguez 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.
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Marcos Astina 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutKadú left out for tactical reasons at Borneo
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 8 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
The offer from Arema for Hugo Samir 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.
The deal that would have taken Daffa Fasya to Dewa United has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Borneo with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
Marcos Astina 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Persib have kept their man, and Borneo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Hugo Samir again, and this time the name on the line is Arema. Borneo are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Felipe Villa signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Astina 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.
Borneo asked and Arema said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Felipe Villa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Borneo would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Borneo could ask drops and the wages Dika Nurdiansyah can ask rise.
“He needs to be playing at a level that matches him, and we are open to conversations.” Nobody says that by accident, and nobody at Borneo misheard it.
Mohammad Al-Husseini 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Astina 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Borneo told Arsan Makarin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Felipe Villa signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Koldo Obieta signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Borneo will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamad Anez, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adzikry Fadlillah 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Astina 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.
Kei Hirose 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 38 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Borneo is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Borneo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Koldo Obieta signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Mohammad Al-Husseini 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Astina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Mohamad Anez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Marcos Astina 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammad Al-Husseini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Astina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad23 Oct 2028
5 new faces, and Borneo are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Borneo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Astina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Koldo Obieta signs something — a contract at Borneo 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 Borneo that is a harder question to answer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Borneo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Arkhan Kaka 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Astina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
13 combined actions and 7.22. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Ahmad Irawan could afford to be generous.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Borneo will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Marcos Astina 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaio Nunes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohammad Al-Husseini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Persijap in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Guy Shelah is living that version at Borneo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Marcos Astina 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.