Marked for Simon Couillot
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Apr 2029
A fracture rules Mathias Rosenørn out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Middelfart will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Middelfart is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Alexander Bundgaard has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Middelfart is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom9 Apr 2029
The numbers do not look good at Middelfart
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Middelfart
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oliver Kjærgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Middelfart can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Felipe Morales and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
Matthias Præst 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 dugout9 Apr 2029
A promise honoured at Middelfart
Something was said to Simon Couillot and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Middelfart, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
75 days out for Mathias Rosenørn after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Middelfart will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Erik Marxen has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Middelfart is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Feb 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 Middelfart this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Middelfart
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oliver Kjærgaard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
95% of the income goes out in wages at Middelfart
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 dugout26 Feb 2029
Mauro Vigorito 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 Middelfart, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Feb 2029
Middelfart have let the market know Oliver Kjærgaard can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market26 Feb 2029
The clock does Enzo Geerts’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Middelfart could ask drops and the wages Enzo Geerts can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“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.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Alexander Bundgaard has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Middelfart is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Noah Rasmussen 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Oliver Kjærgaard 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 dugout20 Nov 2028
Mauro Vigorito 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 Middelfart, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Nov 2028
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Middelfart money.