Marked for Cassius Cisse
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Apr 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Iliria Fushë-Krujë can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Iliria Fushë-Krujë
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Jorgo Qeleshi 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.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad2 Apr 2029
David Gjinollari 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
56 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad2 Apr 2029
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 dugout2 Apr 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.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Henri Zuna knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Henri Zuna trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Iliria Fushë-Krujë training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Gjinollari 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 Mar 2029
Aliyu Umar Muhammad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Henri Zuna 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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Ange Fofana 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 Iliria Fushë-Krujë, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market19 Mar 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Iliria Fushë-Krujë know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market19 Mar 2029
The clock does Dejvid Kapllani’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Iliria Fushë-Krujë could ask drops and the wages Dejvid Kapllani can ask rise.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Match19 Mar 2029
Continental football is in reach for Iliria Fushë-Krujë
38 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Questions about Uesli Arapi on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 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 Iliria Fushë-Krujë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Redon Dragoshi 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
6 new faces, and Iliria Fushë-Krujë 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.
The dugout20 Nov 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.
The dugout20 Nov 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.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Apolonia Fier in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 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 Iliria Fushë-Krujë, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market31 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lushnja waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Iliria Fushë-Krujë is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Ilir Allmuça has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Iliria Fushë-Krujë is pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Ilir Allmuça 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 Iliria Fushë-Krujë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Iliria Fushë-Krujë asked and Partizani Tirana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Flavio Mecja was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 May 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Iliria Fushë-Krujë will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 May 2028
Ilir Allmuça and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
David Gjinollari 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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
The dugout29 May 2028
Henri Zuna asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout29 May 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Iliria Fushë-Krujë told Janis Widmer something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout29 May 2028
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.
Squad29 May 2028
A new face in his position, and David Gjinollari suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Iliria Fushë-Krujë have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
Djawell Nebor 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 Onze Createurs can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Babé Diarra 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.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Ayodele Akinyemi has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Onze Createurs have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Onze Createurs asked and Djoliba said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Johan Cayssol commits to Onze Createurs for another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Onze Createurs will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cassius Cisse was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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 Mahamadou N'Diaye is on it.
Market9 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Babé Diarra’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jul 2027
Cassius Cisse 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 Onze Createurs can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Babé Diarra 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 Onze Createurs this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade Malien have kept their man, and Onze Createurs go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Mamoutou Berthé
“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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alassane Coulibaly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
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 Alkalifa Coulibaly is on it.
Market26 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ibrahima Dembélé signs something — a contract at Onze Createurs or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gouné Niangadou has written the date down.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Hamza Bahaj asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.