The Shamakhi Herald
The terraces29 May 2028
Supporters organise against the Shamakhi 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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Shamakhi
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad29 May 2028
Tempers go at Shamakhi
Diogo Balau 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 May 2028
The step up is real for Dionte Davis
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad29 May 2028
Ricardo Fernandes 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 dugout29 May 2028
No hiding place for Robinho
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Robinho, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 May 2028
Richard is still paying for one afternoon at Shamakhi
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.
The dugout29 May 2028
Andrei Tîrcoveanu 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 Shamakhi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad29 May 2028
Alphonce Msanga still has not settled
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Shamakhi would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
In brief
- Market Alphonce Msanga back at Shamakhi
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Cézar