Marked for Junior Kyungu
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces20 Jan 2031
Anger at JäPS 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.
Squad20 Jan 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Aleksi Sainio
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. JäPS lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad20 Jan 2031
A falling-out at JäPS
Axel Vidjeskog and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Jan 2031
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad20 Jan 2031
A row about effort at JäPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henrik Ölander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market20 Jan 2031
The Aapo Ruohio story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aapo Ruohio signs something — a contract at JäPS or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Nov 2030
Anger at JäPS 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.
Squad25 Nov 2030
A falling-out at JäPS
Joakim Latonen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market25 Nov 2030
A stepping stone, not a home, for Richard Jensen
He is doing his job and he is not settling. JäPS were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Market25 Nov 2030
Experience through the door at JäPS
Richard Jensen arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Market25 Nov 2030
The Aapo Ruohio story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aapo Ruohio signs something — a contract at JäPS or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
Atte Kivelä has been promised minutes
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 Atte Kivelä has written the date down.
Squad25 Nov 2030
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. JäPS know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
Junior Kyungu 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 Junior Kyungu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad25 Nov 2030
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. JäPS have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces6 May 2030
Anger at JäPS 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.
The dugout6 May 2030
Junior Kyungu: 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.” JäPS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad6 May 2030
A falling-out at JäPS
Joakim Latonen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom6 May 2030
$800.7K of the owner's money at JäPS
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.
Player ratings6 May 2030
Shaka Zulu beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout6 May 2030
Atte Kivelä 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.
Squad6 May 2030
Henrik Ölander 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.
Squad6 May 2030
Too much change too quickly at JäPS
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad6 May 2030
Shaka Zulu makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces11 Mar 2030
Supporters organise against the JäPS board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market11 Mar 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what JäPS can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets11 Mar 2030
Everything agreed with SJK, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Mar 2030
A falling-out at JäPS
Axel Vidjeskog and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom11 Mar 2030
The approach has gone in and the answer belongs to Valletta. Business like this is done quietly and reported loudly, and rarely in that order.
Boardroom11 Mar 2030
JäPS still without a manager
10 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Transfer targets11 Mar 2030
JäPS asked and Haka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom11 Mar 2030
Embargo at JäPS
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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrik Ölander 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
Match25 Feb 2030
JäPS are in real trouble now
Position 10, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market25 Feb 2030
“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 JäPS, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Tempers go at JäPS
Axel Vidjeskog 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.
Transfer targets25 Feb 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad25 Feb 2030
At 38, 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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Shaka Zulu 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.
Transfer targets25 Feb 2030
A loan move for Samuel Pasanen is in the works
JäPS have made the call to KuPS. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at JäPS, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Po, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Feb 2030
“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 JäPS, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2030
The deal with KuPS is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2030
No thanks: Dan Lauri rejects the move
JäPS had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at TPS, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words exchanged at JäPS
Joakim Latonen 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.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2030
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Henrik Ölander 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.
Squad18 Feb 2030
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and JäPS know it.
The dugout18 Feb 2030
“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.
Market18 Feb 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Pimentel signs something — a contract at JäPS or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Jan 2030
Every point is an argument now for JäPS
Position 10 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market28 Jan 2030
Jesse Nikki 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 JäPS can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Words exchanged at JäPS
Joakim Latonen 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.
Squad28 Jan 2030
A row about effort at JäPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henrik Ölander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market28 Jan 2030
JäPS have let the market know Markku Joronen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
The manager makes Junior Kyungu a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at JäPS. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jan 2030
“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.
Squad21 Jan 2030
Tempers go at JäPS
Axel Vidjeskog 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.
Squad21 Jan 2030
A row about effort at JäPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henrik Ölander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Jan 2030
Jesse Nikki 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.
Market21 Jan 2030
JäPS have let the market know Eero-Matti Auvinen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market21 Jan 2030
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what JäPS could get for him.
The dugout21 Jan 2030
The manager makes Junior Kyungu a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at JäPS. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market21 Jan 2030
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Jacopo Di Giosia leaves JäPS the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Boardroom21 Jan 2030
The JäPS production line keeps running
30 graduates out of an academy now rated 7 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces14 Jan 2030
The mood at JäPS 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.
Boardroom14 Jan 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at JäPS
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at JäPS is running low.
Market14 Jan 2030
“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.
Squad14 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at JäPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shaka Zulu 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.
Boardroom14 Jan 2030
Wages swallow 106% of the JäPS income
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 dugout14 Jan 2030
Jesse Nikki 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.
Market14 Jan 2030
JäPS have made Riccardo Domeniconi available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market14 Jan 2030
The clock does Jesse Nikki’s negotiating for him
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee JäPS could ask drops and the wages Jesse Nikki can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Dec 2029
Every point is an argument now for JäPS
Position 10 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market31 Dec 2029
Jesse Nikki 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 JäPS can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words exchanged at JäPS
Joakim Latonen 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Everybody at JäPS saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Henrik Ölander 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 dugout31 Dec 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at JäPS, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces17 Dec 2029
Supporters organise against the JäPS board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market17 Dec 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.
Squad17 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 JäPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom17 Dec 2029
The approach has gone in and the answer belongs to Rewa. Business like this is done quietly and reported loudly, and rarely in that order.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrik Ölander 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.
Boardroom17 Dec 2029
Wages swallow 100% of the JäPS income
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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and JäPS know it.
Market17 Dec 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market17 Dec 2029
The shop window has Tom Flanagan in it
JäPS have let the market know Tom Flanagan can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Dec 2029
“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 JäPS, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at JäPS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Dec 2029
A falling-out at JäPS
Joakim Latonen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom10 Dec 2029
JäPS ask Metta/LU the expensive question
The target is Kaspars Vanins, the approach is real, and the compensation clause is the whole conversation. Clubs deny this kind of story right up until the photograph.
Boardroom10 Dec 2029
Still nobody in the JäPS dugout
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Boardroom10 Dec 2029
JäPS cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrik Ölander 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.
Squad10 Dec 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; JäPS are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom10 Dec 2029
JäPS are $11.4M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Match3 Dec 2029
JäPS sink to position 10
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
An empty coaching office at JäPS
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
Market3 Dec 2029
“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 JäPS, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words exchanged at JäPS
Axel Vidjeskog 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.
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
$538.6K from the owner keeps JäPS afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shaka Zulu 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.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
Jesse Nikki 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 Jesse Nikki trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Nov 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at JäPS
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Tempers go at JäPS
Joakim Latonen 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrik Ölander 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.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
Jesse Nikki 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation JäPS are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout26 Nov 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.
Market26 Nov 2029
JäPS bring in an old head
Eero-Matti Auvinen is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Market26 Nov 2029
JäPS have let the market know Jermu Virtanen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad26 Nov 2029
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one JäPS will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces19 Nov 2029
Anger at JäPS 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.
Market19 Nov 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 JäPS can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Nov 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 JäPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Henrik Ölander 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.
Boardroom19 Nov 2029
105% of the income goes out in wages at JäPS
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.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
“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 dugout19 Nov 2029
Tom Flanagan 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.
Market19 Nov 2029
JäPS have made Markku Soiri available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout19 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Nov 2029
Kwadwo Waris 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 JäPS can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom12 Nov 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Emre Nerland 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.
Market12 Nov 2029
Emre Nerland has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around JäPS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Nov 2029
A falling-out at JäPS
Joakim Latonen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Nov 2029
A row about effort at JäPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shaka Zulu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom12 Nov 2029
The borrowing at JäPS reaches $11.4M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $11.4M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
No place for Atte Sihvonen in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation JäPS are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Oct 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 JäPS can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom29 Oct 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at JäPS
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Tempers go at JäPS
Joakim Latonen 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrik Ölander 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and JäPS know it.
Squad29 Oct 2029
This league is too small for Aapo Ruohio
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. JäPS will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Oct 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A falling-out at JäPS
Axel Vidjeskog and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jesse Nikki 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Nikos Golias is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Boardroom15 Oct 2029
The JäPS debt reaches $11.6M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
Jesse Nikki 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 JäPS, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad15 Oct 2029
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 JäPS would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market15 Oct 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jermu Virtanen may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
The manager makes Junior Kyungu a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at JäPS. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
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Market
The clock does Olexandr Ushchenko’s negotiating for him
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Boardroom
The JäPS production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Match8 Oct 2029
Every point is an argument now for JäPS
Position 10 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market8 Oct 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 JäPS can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words exchanged at JäPS
Joakim Latonen 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.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
The owner puts $554.3K into JäPS
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Jesse Nikki 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.
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
JäPS cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at JäPS can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
Jesse Nikki 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces24 Sep 2029
The mood at JäPS 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.
Market24 Sep 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.
Squad24 Sep 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 JäPS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
JäPS move for the manager
The approach has been made to Quilmes and the answer is somebody else's to give. These things are settled in private and reported in public, usually in that order.
Squad24 Sep 2029
A row about effort at JäPS
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jesse Nikki was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
Wages eat 131% of everything JäPS earn
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.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Riccardo Domeniconi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
Tom Flanagan 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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and JäPS will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Sep 2029
Every point is an argument now for JäPS
Position 10 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market10 Sep 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.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” JäPS may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words exchanged at JäPS
Joakim Latonen 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.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
JäPS move for the manager
The approach has been made to Foullah Edifice and the answer is somebody else's to give. These things are settled in private and reported in public, usually in that order.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
Still nobody in the JäPS dugout
9 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
Embargo at JäPS
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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Shaka Zulu 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 dugout10 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Apr 2029
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and SJK Akatemia spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Market23 Apr 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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A falling-out at JäPS
Joakim Latonen and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom23 Apr 2029
The approach has been made to Aigle Royal de la Menoua and the answer is somebody else's to give. These things are settled in private and reported in public, usually in that order.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Junior Kyungu arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Junior Kyungu has, at JäPS, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom23 Apr 2029
Still nobody in the JäPS dugout
13 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at JäPS training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Axel Vidjeskog 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.
Transfer targets23 Apr 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.