Marked for Owen Galea
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Tammeka keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ilja Antonov and FC Tallinn agree another 1 years.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Ilja Antonov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Sep 2028
A row about effort at FC Tallinn
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Vaherna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Brent Liivak has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at FC Tallinn is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The formation has left Laurits Õunpuu behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. FC Tallinn will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market11 Sep 2028
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Market11 Sep 2028
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market11 Sep 2028
He is 18, and nobody at FC Tallinn signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
“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 dugout4 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Markus Vaherna has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at FC Tallinn is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 14 in, 15 out at FC Tallinn
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 15 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Flora is saying, and nobody at FC Tallinn is enjoying the guessing.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Abiola Bamijoko 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 targets4 Sep 2028
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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Markus Vaherna 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 dugout4 Sep 2028
“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.
Market4 Sep 2028
He is doing his job and he is not settling. FC Tallinn were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Aug 2028
“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 FC Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FC Tallinn have done the hard part with Flora, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Vaprus is saying, and nobody at FC Tallinn is enjoying the guessing.
Squad28 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
FC Tallinn asked and Vaprus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at FC Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Viktor Kudriashov 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FC Tallinn can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gregor Sepp, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
Arkhip Naumchik 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
Steady
Market7 Aug 2028
“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 dugout7 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Markus Vaherna has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at FC Tallinn is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
No thanks: Remo Valdmets rejects the move
FC Tallinn had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Flora, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
FC Tallinn asked and Kuressaare said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A row about effort at FC Tallinn
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Vaherna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
A loan enquiry to Flora: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
A loan enquiry to Paide: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Brent Liivak
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Brent Liivak has come out of that comparison in the side, and FC Tallinn have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
“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
Steady
The dugout24 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FC Tallinn may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market24 Jul 2028
“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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
The paperwork begins on Raiko Ilves
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FC Tallinn have done the hard part with Nõmme United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
FC Tallinn had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Flora, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Abiola Bamijoko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
FC Tallinn asked and Nõmme United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Viktor Kudriashov 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 dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Marek Vassiljev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at FC Tallinn is pretending otherwise.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
Ramaz Kardava has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at FC Tallinn will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
Match10 Jul 2028
Full time on the season at FC Tallinn
Position 7 on 26 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Flora is saying, and nobody at FC Tallinn is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Abiola Bamijoko 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 dugout10 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Markus Vaherna has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at FC Tallinn is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
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.
Match8 Jul 2028
Tammeka U21 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at FC Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robin Tiigiste 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 Jul 2028
“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; FC Tallinn are dealing with a man who wants a different country.