Marked for Alonso Ripoll
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Apr 2030
Cihan Topaloğlu damages knee ligaments — 47 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
The terraces22 Apr 2030
Anger at Umraniyespor spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Umraniyespor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Cebio Soukou 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Apr 2030
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Mar 2030
Cihan Topaloğlu damages knee ligaments — 77 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
The terraces25 Mar 2030
Anger at Umraniyespor spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match23 Mar 2030
No end in sight to Umraniyespor's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Umraniyespor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Engjëll Hoti, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Jean-Baptiste Renard 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.
Match23 Mar 2030
Point won or two lost for Umraniyespor?
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.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
An afternoon Alonso Ripoll will want back
Marked 5.38. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
An afternoon Lauri Laine will want back
Marked 5.75. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Dec 2029
25 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.
The terraces31 Dec 2029
The mood at Umraniyespor has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad31 Dec 2029
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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad31 Dec 2029
“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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Dec 2029
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Umraniyespor and Antalyaspor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Luciano Arriagada was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match29 Dec 2029
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 Aug 2029
The mood at Umraniyespor has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match11 Aug 2029
0‑3 against Fenerbahce, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market13 Aug 2029
“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.
Match11 Aug 2029
5 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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.
Market13 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Birhan Vatansever will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Umraniyespor the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom13 Aug 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Birhan Vatansever has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom13 Aug 2029
9 academy players handed senior numbers at Umraniyespor
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Jul 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Umraniyespor
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kleo Shpuza is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Agustín Allione out for 121 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Umraniyespor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Umraniyespor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cihan Topaloğlu 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Mar 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 129 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Deniz Unai has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Umraniyespor
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.30, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Onur Bulut and Umraniyespor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Onur Bulut 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Mar 2029
Emirhan Topçu among the goals in a wild afternoon
8 goals in one match, Emirhan Topçu on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Umraniyespor and Besiktas.
Match3 Mar 2029
4‑4, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Feb 2029
Beaten 0‑4 by Basaksehir, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match3 Feb 2029
5 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 Feb 2029
Cebio Soukou 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Loan watch5 Feb 2029
“I did not go to Hatayspor to sit and watch. I want to come back to Umraniyespor and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 30 matches say the rest.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Aly Mallé gets it from the manager
“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.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tiago Costa commits to Umraniyespor for another 3 years.
Market5 Feb 2029
Doxa are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Umraniyespor will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Jan 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” João Mário and Umraniyespor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Umraniyespor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Engjëll Hoti 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“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.
Loan watch8 Jan 2029
“I did not go to Hatayspor to sit and watch. I want to come back to Umraniyespor and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
Match6 Jan 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Alanyaspor leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The terraces8 Jan 2029
Everybody has an opinion about Cebio Soukou
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
A mark of 5.76 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Cebio Soukou changes it off the bench
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Umraniyespor had a different afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Umraniyespor's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Umraniyespor has to find a result from somewhere.
Match9 Dec 2028
1‑4 to Trabzonspor, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Ali Yıldız, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.28
A mark of 8.28 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match9 Dec 2028
Umraniyespor are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Onur Bulut 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Loan watch11 Dec 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Umraniyespor, and 2 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
The terraces11 Dec 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ali Yıldız 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Nov 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Cihan Topaloğlu
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Umraniyespor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Nov 2028
7 matches without a win for Umraniyespor
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Umraniyespor are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
A defender's goal wins it for Umraniyespor — 7.41
1 for Emirhan Topçu, marked 7.41, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad13 Nov 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Umraniyespor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Allione 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.
Match11 Nov 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to João Mário, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Loan watch13 Nov 2028
“I watch every Umraniyespor game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hatayspor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Oct 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Cihan Topaloğlu
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Umraniyespor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match14 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Umraniyespor's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Umraniyespor has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Oct 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Umraniyespor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Allione 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Onur Bulut gets it from the manager
“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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Aly Mallé was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Sep 2028
Cihan Topaloğlu damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Übeyd Adıyaman decides it from twelve yards
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match13 Sep 2028
Kayserispor are out and Umraniyespor go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad18 Sep 2028
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Onur Bulut 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Sep 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Luciano Arriagada’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Umraniyespor.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Loan watch18 Sep 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Umraniyespor, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Sep 2028
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hatayspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match9 Sep 2028
11 matches without a win for Hatayspor
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Hatayspor are no longer polite ones.
Match9 Sep 2028
Nowhere to hide for Hatayspor
0‑5 against Besiktas, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Sep 2028
Radim Šudák 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 Hatayspor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Alonso Ripoll: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hatayspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Sep 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 Hatayspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The terraces11 Sep 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Aug 2028
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hatayspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match19 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Hatayspor's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hatayspor has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Musa Danjuma is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Ali Yavuz Kol has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Match19 Aug 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Marked 8.03 — 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.
The terraces21 Aug 2028
Everybody has an opinion about Ali Yavuz Kol
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Aug 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Cihan Topaloğlu
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Umraniyespor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Umraniyespor
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Umraniyespor is running low.
Squad21 Aug 2028
The match ball belongs to Luciano Arriagada, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
João Mário, 35, rolls back the years — 8.18
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.18 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lauri Laine is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Luciano Arriagada was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.30. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jul 2028
Recep Burak Yılmaz damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
The terraces10 Jul 2028
Anger at Hatayspor spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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 Hatayspor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Alex Moretti: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hatayspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Hatayspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tarık Çetin 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Lucio Garberi out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Umraniyespor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Malik Odeyinka is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Market10 Jul 2028
Ankaragucu are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Umraniyespor will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market10 Jul 2028
Umraniyespor have let the market know Birhan Vatansever can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Lucio Garberi out for 48 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Umraniyespor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Jul 2028
Julián Payares has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Umraniyespor they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces19 Jun 2028
The mood at Umraniyespor has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Lucio Garberi out for 64 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Umraniyespor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer from Konyaspor for Alonso Ripoll 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.
Squad19 Jun 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Umraniyespor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Allione 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Atalay Babacan, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Lucio Garberi out for 73 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Umraniyespor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Bruno Dip gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bruno Dip has just signed for Umraniyespor, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tabaré Benítez: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Umraniyespor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Emirhan Topçu 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Konyaspor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alonso Ripoll. The answer from Umraniyespor has not changed — yet.
Market12 Jun 2028
Umraniyespor shop where it costs nothing
Bruno Dip signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.