Marked for Billy Cullinane
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Nov 2032
Mirco Mazzeo breaks a bone — 36 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout22 Nov 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Luzern may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Tyron Owusu 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 Luzern this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2032
“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 Luzern know it.
Match20 Nov 2032
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alessandro Debenedetti. 2‑0 against Aarau, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings22 Nov 2032
Ninety minutes of Dejan Djokic at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Luzern.
Player ratings22 Nov 2032
Nobody could get near José Silva
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Nov 2032
Too much change too quickly at Luzern
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.
The dugout22 Nov 2032
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Sep 2032
A fracture rules Mirco Mazzeo out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Luzern will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match16 Sep 2032
Luzern beaten on the continent
0‑1 against HNK Rijeka, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.
Market20 Sep 2032
Duje Reić 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 Luzern can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout20 Sep 2032
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2032
A one-man rearguard from Joël Drommel
There were 6 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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2032
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2032
5 matches without a win for Luzern
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Luzern are no longer polite ones.
Market20 Sep 2032
Only the photograph left for Fabian Benito
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fabian Benito will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luzern the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Sep 2032
Tempers go at Luzern
Tyron Owusu 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Aug 2032
“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.
Market16 Aug 2032
“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.
Market16 Aug 2032
Brandon Forbes has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luzern they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Words exchanged at Luzern
Tyron Owusu 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.
Match14 Aug 2032
At last: Luzern win one
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Aarau. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Nikolai Rehnen 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 targets16 Aug 2032
Luzern asked and KAA Gent said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match14 Aug 2032
Luzern get the job done against Aarau
A 2‑0 win over Aarau, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings16 Aug 2032
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 2032
“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.
Squad31 May 2032
Tempers go at Luzern
Tyron Owusu 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.
Squad31 May 2032
A row about effort at Luzern
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emil Tsenov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikolai Rehnen, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2032
The medical room confirms 52 days on the sidelines for Christian Shaqiri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad31 May 2032
Too much change too quickly at Luzern
5 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.
The dugout31 May 2032
Noah Lahmadi 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.
Market31 May 2032
The clock does Joël Drommel’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Luzern could ask drops and the wages Joël Drommel can ask rise.
Market31 May 2032
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mirco Mazzeo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 May 2032
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
Boardroom3 May 2032
An empty coaching office at Luzern
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 May 2032
Mirco Mazzeo 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 Luzern can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 May 2032
Emergency meeting at Luzern
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Boardroom3 May 2032
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Market3 May 2032
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Luzern heard it as anything else.
Squad3 May 2032
Tempers go at Luzern
Tyron Owusu 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.
Squad3 May 2032
Nikolai Rehnen 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.
Market3 May 2032
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces26 Jan 2032
Anger at Luzern 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.
Market26 Jan 2032
“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 Luzern, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Jan 2032
60 days out for Anton Tanghe after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Luzern will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Stade Lausanne-Ouchy is saying, and nobody at Luzern is enjoying the guessing.
Squad26 Jan 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Melker Widell commits to Luzern for another 5 years.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Words exchanged at Luzern
Tyron Owusu 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Billy Cullinane gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Billy Cullinane has just signed for Luzern, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom26 Jan 2032
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Paul Lehmann has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Luzern have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets26 Jan 2032
Luzern asked and Étoile Carouge said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.