$9.9M on the table at VfB Stuttgart. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Patrick Mainka 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.
Add another name to the list: Preußen Münster have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adam Kölle. The answer from Heidenheim has not changed — yet.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Boubakar Dembaga has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Adam Kölle had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
$4.2M on the table at Bayern Munich. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
42 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.
The phone has started ringing about Stefan Schimmer again, and this time the name on the line is Nürnberg. Heidenheim are listening politely and promising nothing.
Heidenheim offered $1.0M; Hannover 96 said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Jonas Kersken 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.
Heidenheim asked and Mainz 05 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The offer went to VfL Wolfsburg this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
$3.5M on the table at SV Elversberg. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Hertha BSC have gone to Arminia Bielefeld with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The name of Uchenna Ogundu has come up in conversations Hertha BSC were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hertha BSC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hannover 96 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Raphael Obermair will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hannover 96 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Raphael Obermair 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.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Victor Boniface 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.
Three points for Hannover 96, 1‑0 the final word against Hertha BSC in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Hannover 96 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kennet Eichhorn 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.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hannover 96 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kennet Eichhorn is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Hannover 96 heard it as anything else.
David Raum 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.
He is 20 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Alexander Prass 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 Hayate Matsuda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from TSG Hoffenheim for Raphael Obermair 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hannover 96 can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Hannover 96 can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Maximilian Philipp 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.
$69.0K was the most the club would pay and VfL Bochum were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Hannover 96 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raphael Obermair 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hannover 96 can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Robert Andrich 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 Flavio Russo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anton Richter was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Hertha BSC dressing room was either.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Hannover 96 heard it as anything else.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Hannover 96 can tell you which week it ends in.
David Raum 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kennet Eichhorn is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Hannover 96 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raphael Obermair 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.
“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 Hannover 96, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“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; Hannover 96 are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Hannover 96 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kennet Eichhorn 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.
A mark of 7.19, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Martin Scholz chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Something was said to João Pedro and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
13 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Hertha BSC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emre Can 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.
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.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Hertha BSC can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
Something was said to Tim Skarke and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
In brief
The dugoutTjark Ernst knocks on the manager's door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hannover 96 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Boris Tomiak and Hannover 96 agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Hannover 96 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christoph Daferner 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.
Magdeburg next, and one man in the Hannover 96 dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hertha BSC can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Hertha BSC can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Hertha BSC hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Robert Andrich 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 Emre Can was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“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 Hertha BSC, and 6 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
10 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marc Oliver Kempf and Hertha BSC agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Marc Oliver Kempf 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Flavio Russo 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.
“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 Hertha BSC, and 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Hannover 96 hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
David Raum 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Twente have kept their man, and Hannover 96 go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Kennet Eichhorn 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Tjark Ernst reports back to Hertha BSC with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hertha BSC may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Hertha BSC close the window on a squad of their own making
17 in and 27 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“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 Hertha BSC, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Hertha BSC hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Robert Andrich 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.
Hertha BSC have gone to Hannover 96 with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Hertha BSC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emre Can 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. RB Leipzig have kept their man, and Hertha BSC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Marius Gersbeck 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 number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $20.0K — a club that wants Robin Knoche enough to be asked twice.
$140.0K on the table at SV Elversberg. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$19.0K on the table at Arminia Bielefeld. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Add another name to the list: Eintracht Braunschweig have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Leo Weinkauf. The answer from Hannover 96 has not changed — yet.
Virgil Ghiţă 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.
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.
Hertha BSC have gone to Cruzeiro with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“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 Hertha BSC, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from SC Freiburg for Tjark Ernst 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hertha BSC have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kennet Eichhorn and Hertha BSC agree another 4 years.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Uchenna Ogundu is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The mood at Hertha BSC 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emre Can was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Magdeburg next, and one man in the Hertha BSC dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junior Robinson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Luka Caculović has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kevin Trimmel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The mood at Hertha BSC 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Uchenna Ogundu is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The bid was some way short and Hertha BSC did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Hertha BSC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emre Can 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Diego Demme’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hertha BSC needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stripfing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Stripfing heard it as anything else.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Stripfing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xaver Wimmer 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. Stripfing told Dinis Rodrigues something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
11 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.
Dominik Onisiwo 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stripfing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
54 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Kennet Eichhorn, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 8.21
A mark of 8.21 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stripfing can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michael Lang and Stripfing agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Stripfing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maximilian Laimer 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Kennet Eichhorn 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.
Xaver Wimmer 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Romeo Vučić. 1‑0 against Amstetten, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Stripfing, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matthieu Cuirassier is living that version at Stripfing, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing 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 Xaver Wimmer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Stripfing asked and Bradford City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 17 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Posch. 1‑0 against Austria Klagenfurt, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Looking aheadThe big one: Admira Wacker come into view
Player ratingsNinety minutes of David Posch at his very best
Player ratingsXaver Wimmer beats them one at a time
Austria Salzburg will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Stripfing were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kennet Eichhorn did not need any: 8.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Maximilian Laimer 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.
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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Austria Salzburg spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hertha BSC 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 Paul Seguin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Dynamo Dresden in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Michaël Cuisance has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hertha BSC. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tjark Ernst signs something — a contract at Hertha BSC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kennet Eichhorn is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Xaver Wimmer 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Markus Arnautovic, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Stripfing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christoph Kalajdzic 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
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 0‑2 Julian Onisiwo left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Stripfing told Alexander Murillo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hertha BSC will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everybody at Hertha BSC saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Eintracht Braunschweig in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marius Gersbeck trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tim Goller signs something — a contract at Hertha BSC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Next up on the road: Eintracht Braunschweig, position 8. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Stripfing told Kennet Eichhorn something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad12 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Stripfing 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 Stripfing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Stripfing will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Sturm Graz II scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
It needed Alexander Murillo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Sturm Graz II, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Maximilian Laimer may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stripfing can pretend not to have heard.
$74.0K was the most the club would pay and Austria Wien were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nyíregyháza have kept their man, and Stripfing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentino Prass, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Xaver Wimmer 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.
Patrick Touray 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Stripfing 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.