Marked for Sergio Oerlemans
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom16 Aug 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2032
Volendam have nobody left to take training
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
Boardroom16 Aug 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.
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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2032
Volendam asked and AZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market16 Aug 2032
Marco Coronado has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volendam they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Aug 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volendam this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Words at Volendam training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tiago Dantas 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2032
7 academy players handed senior numbers at Volendam
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets9 Aug 2032
Volendam asked and AZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market9 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2032
Everything agreed with Excelsior, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2032
Volendam have gone to Heracles 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.
Squad9 Aug 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Bielica and Volendam agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2032
Daniel Bielica 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 targets9 Aug 2032
Roda wanted more than $72.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad9 Aug 2032
Words at Volendam training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jari Kolthof 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 dugout9 Aug 2032
The manager makes an example of Ruben Veer
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
The deal with AZ is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Market19 Jul 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volendam can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AZ have kept their man, and Volendam go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market19 Jul 2032
Only the photograph left for Marco Coronado
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marco Coronado will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volendam the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom19 Jul 2032
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Marco Coronado has agreed terms with Twente for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad19 Jul 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volendam this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2032
Raphaël Sarfo 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.
Squad19 Jul 2032
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Volendam is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad19 Jul 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 Volendam know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout24 May 2032
Sergio Oerlemans: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Volendam have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad24 May 2032
A falling-out at Volendam
Ringo Meerveld and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2032
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Volendam can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad24 May 2032
Tiago Dantas 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 May 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolai Spătar, and the manager let it.
Market24 May 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Raphaël Sarfo signs something — a contract at Volendam or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market24 May 2032
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout24 May 2032
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Andreas Simoens is on it.
Market24 May 2032
Volendam have made Markus Cimermancic available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2032
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market19 Apr 2032
Martino Odero has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volendam they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tiago Dantas and Volendam agree another 4 years.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Daniel Bielica 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.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Words at Volendam training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ringo Meerveld 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.
Match17 Apr 2032
Three points for Volendam, 1‑0 the final word against Emmen in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings19 Apr 2032
David Min stands above it all
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.80 on the card, and the Volendam support went home talking about one name.
The dugout19 Apr 2032
The manager makes an example of Bradley Danger
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2032
Beaten 0‑4 by Jong AZ, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad12 Apr 2032
There were 7 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.
Market12 Apr 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 Volendam, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Ringo Meerveld 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.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words at Volendam training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tiago Dantas 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 dugout12 Apr 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jeremiah Esajas, and the manager let it.
Boardroom12 Apr 2032
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad12 Apr 2032
8 new faces, and Volendam 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.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
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 0‑4 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Aug 2031
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑0 against Van-2, and it could have been more.
Match25 Aug 2031
Hayq are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 59 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.07, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Antônio Villa is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.30 with 20 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans 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.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Vitor Manuel 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.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Chances created: 15. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
The terraces25 Aug 2031
Hayq supporters have found a favourite in Araz Madatov
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Araz Madatov 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.
In brief
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Match
Another one collected away from home
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Looking ahead
The big one: Lernayin Artsakh come into view
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Player ratings
The chances came and went for Vitor Manuel
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Jul 2031
Hayq are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 50 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market28 Jul 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hayq can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Jul 2031
Hayq make home a hard place to visit
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match26 Jul 2031
Whatever happens, Hayq do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad28 Jul 2031
16 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad28 Jul 2031
Otávio 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 Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Jul 2031
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets28 Jul 2031
Hayq asked and Noah 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 Jul 2031
Vitor Manuel 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market21 Jul 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hayq can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Everything agreed with Ararat-Armenia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match19 Jul 2031
Still nobody has beaten Hayq
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Tempers go at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans 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 targets21 Jul 2031
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.
Match19 Jul 2031
Hayq get the job done against BKMA-2
A 1‑0 win over BKMA-2, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings21 Jul 2031
Marked 8.14 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings21 Jul 2031
Samuel Jhonathan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout21 Jul 2031
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market14 Jul 2031
“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 Hayq, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Jul 2031
Nobody wins at Hayq
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Market14 Jul 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Hayq is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hayq have done the hard part with Pyunik, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Hayq had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Pyunik, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Player ratings14 Jul 2031
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Jul 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Jul 2031
6 unbeaten for Hayq
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Hayq did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Hayq asked and Noah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Jul 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Narek Spertsyan
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hayq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Jul 2031
There were 7 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.
Market7 Jul 2031
José Freitas 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 Hayq can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings7 Jul 2031
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2031
Everything agreed with Pyunik, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Jul 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Jul 2031
Hayq asked and BKMA 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 Jul 2031
Vitor Manuel 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.
Boardroom7 Jul 2031
219% of the income goes out in wages at Hayq
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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Embargo at Hayq
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Match
The run is over for Hayq
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Boardroom
4 new boys at the Hayq academy
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Jun 2031
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hayq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match30 Jun 2031
Hayq up to position 2
42 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad30 Jun 2031
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market30 Jun 2031
Kuba Kmiecik 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 Hayq can pretend not to have heard.
Match28 Jun 2031
Hayq cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
The deal with Van is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Antônio Villa
16 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match28 Jun 2031
Hayq make home a hard place to visit
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Tempers go at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans 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
Steady
Match28 May 2031
The cup run ends for Hayq
0‑4 against Urartu, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match2 Jun 2031
Hayq refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 30 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The terraces2 Jun 2031
A cup embarrassment at Urartu follows Hayq home
0-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Squad2 Jun 2031
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.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Tempers go at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans 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.
Match31 May 2031
Armen Khachatryan scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Syunik, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Words at Hayq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Manuel 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.
Player ratings2 Jun 2031
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.97, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Boardroom2 Jun 2031
Embargo at Hayq
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
In brief
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The dugout
Stanislav Antipin gets it from the manager
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Hayq
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match24 May 2031
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings26 May 2031
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings26 May 2031
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.98, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad26 May 2031
Words exchanged at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans 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 May 2031
Vitor Manuel 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 dugout26 May 2031
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout26 May 2031
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad26 May 2031
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Hayq lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Market26 May 2031
Kuba Kmiecik is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Hayq has been clear about where Kuba Kmiecik stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 May 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hayq they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 May 2031
A falling-out at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 May 2031
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match17 May 2031
After 4 games, Hayq finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Lernayin Artsakh; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The dugout19 May 2031
The manager makes an example of Garnik Sargsyan
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout19 May 2031
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad19 May 2031
A row about effort at Hayq
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bogdan Hagi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 May 2031
The division's best last weekend was a Hayq man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Samuel Jhonathan was the best thing in any of them.
Player ratings19 May 2031
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad12 May 2031
The match ball belongs to Samuel Jhonathan, whose 6 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match10 May 2031
12‑0, and Samuel Jhonathan took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Hayq tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings12 May 2031
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings12 May 2031
A brace, and Vitor Manuel takes the afternoon — 8.49
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vitor Manuel provided it, and the 8.49 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad12 May 2031
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market12 May 2031
“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 Hayq, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 May 2031
Nobody wants to play Hayq right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad12 May 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 May 2031
12 goals as Hayq and Van-2 go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 12 goals between Hayq and Van-2, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Hayq
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Boardroom
Wages eat 157% of everything Hayq earn
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Looking ahead
The big one: Lernayin Artsakh come into view
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad28 Apr 2031
Tempers go at Hayq
Vitor Manuel 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.
Match26 Apr 2031
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Armen Khachatryan. 3‑1 against Pyunik-2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Apr 2031
Vitor Manuel was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.25. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings28 Apr 2031
Antônio Villa was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.14. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout28 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Merih Yildiz, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Bogdan Hagi 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.
Looking ahead28 Apr 2031
Sardarapat next, and one man in the Hayq dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market28 Apr 2031
The name of Antônio Villa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hayq say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings21 Apr 2031
No sign of nerves from Armen Khachatryan at 18 — 8.09
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Armen Khachatryan did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings21 Apr 2031
Vintage Otávio — 8.19
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.19, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market21 Apr 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eleftherios Siopis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Hayq the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Tempers go at Hayq
Samuel Jhonathan 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.
Match19 Apr 2031
Hayq find a way past Mika
Mika made Hayq work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Vitor Manuel 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 terraces21 Apr 2031
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Armen Khachatryan 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.
Player ratings21 Apr 2031
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Apr 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hayq can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Apr 2031
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad14 Apr 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Vitor Manuel 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.
Match12 Apr 2031
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom14 Apr 2031
Wages swallow 136% of the Hayq income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“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.
Market14 Apr 2031
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match2 Apr 2031
Hayq march on in the cup
Sardarapat are out and Hayq go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match5 Apr 2031
Nobody wants to play Hayq right now
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Match5 Apr 2031
3‑0, and Samuel Jhonathan took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Hayq tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
“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.
Match2 Apr 2031
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Sardarapat spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
Donatas Satkus could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.22
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.22, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.07, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad7 Apr 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vitor Manuel commits to Hayq for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Mar 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Stepan Sahradyan
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hayq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words exchanged at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans 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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words at Hayq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Manuel 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.
Looking ahead31 Mar 2031
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against BKMA-2 in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market31 Mar 2031
The name of Antônio Villa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hayq say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
Garnik Sargsyan 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 Mar 2031
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Hayq money.
Squad31 Mar 2031
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Looking ahead31 Mar 2031
Home comforts ahead for Hayq
BKMA-2, position 11, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything else.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Antônio Villa
-
Boardroom
The Hayq production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Artak Mkhitaryan clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Squad3 Mar 2031
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hayq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Vitor Manuel takes the match ball home
5 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match1 Mar 2031
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 12‑1 against Ararat-2, and it could have been more.
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
An empty coaching office at Hayq
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.
Squad3 Mar 2031
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings3 Mar 2031
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.63 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
“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.
Player ratings3 Mar 2031
A defender's goal wins it for Hayq — 7.94
1 for Samuel Jhonathan, marked 7.94, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Feb 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Stepan Sahradyan
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hayq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad17 Feb 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets17 Feb 2031
Hayq asked and Shirak said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Vitor Manuel 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 dugout17 Feb 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stepan Sahradyan, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Feb 2031
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Hayq know which stage they are at.
Market17 Feb 2031
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Antônio Villa’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market17 Feb 2031
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Hayq money.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
Simon Duthil knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simon Duthil trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Feb 2031
Stepan Sahradyan damages knee ligaments — 66 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
Boardroom10 Feb 2031
The scrutiny sharpens at Hayq
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Hayq is running low.
Market10 Feb 2031
“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.
Market10 Feb 2031
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Hayq people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Tempers go at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans 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 targets10 Feb 2031
Hayq asked and Van said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Words at Hayq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Manuel 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.
Boardroom10 Feb 2031
Embargo at Hayq
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Market10 Feb 2031
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.
In brief
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Squad
Hayq are still strangers to each other
-
Market
Experience through the door at Hayq
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Hayk Simonyan
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Dec 2030
Stepan Sahradyan damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 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.
Squad23 Dec 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Simon Duthil 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 dugout23 Dec 2030
“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.
Market23 Dec 2030
The name of Stanislav Antipin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hayq say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
Kuba Kmiecik 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
Uneasy
Squad9 Dec 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Stepan Sahradyan
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hayq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market9 Dec 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hayq can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Hayq
Renat Balkizov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Hayq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Manuel 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.
Boardroom9 Dec 2030
Wages swallow 204% of the Hayq income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Too much change too quickly at Hayq
8 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.
Market9 Dec 2030
The name of Antônio Villa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hayq say nothing, which says plenty.
Market9 Dec 2030
“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.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
Bogdan Hagi 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 Hayq, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager comes out for Sergio Oerlemans
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Match
Nothing left to play for but pride at Hayq
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
Artak Mkhitaryan has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hayq can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Edimilson Seferovic has, at Hayq, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad2 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Hayq
Stanislav Antipin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Hayq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Duthil 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vladislav Faskhutdinov 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.
Market2 Dec 2030
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Stanislav Antipin was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sergio Oerlemans trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market2 Dec 2030
“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
Squad25 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Nov 2030
A row about effort at Hayq
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Manuel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Ícaro wants to go home
“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 Hayq know it.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Faskhutdinov, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Hayq will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market25 Nov 2030
No place for Ícaro in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ícaro has his answer from Hayq; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
Sergio Oerlemans 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.
Market25 Nov 2030
The name of Stanislav Antipin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hayq say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Nov 2030
Artak Mkhitaryan has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hayq can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
“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.
Market4 Nov 2030
“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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
A falling-out at Hayq
Sergio Oerlemans and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Words at Hayq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Manuel 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.
Squad4 Nov 2030
28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Ícaro is not saying it is over
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 37 with 188 appearances behind him, and Hayq have to plan for both answers.
Market4 Nov 2030
The name of Alen Mkrtchyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hayq say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout4 Nov 2030
Kuba Kmiecik 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 Hayq, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Oct 2030
“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 Hayq, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hayq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Vitor Manuel 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.
Market28 Oct 2030
The Vitor Manuel story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vitor Manuel signs something — a contract at Hayq or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market28 Oct 2030
Hayq have let the market know Garnik Sargsyan can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
Hayk Simonyan 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
Uneasy
Boardroom21 Oct 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Hayq
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Hayq is running low.
Market21 Oct 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hayq can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Words at Hayq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filipe Silva 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.
Boardroom21 Oct 2030
Embargo at Hayq
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Words exchanged at Hayq
Mher Sahakyan 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.
Market21 Oct 2030
The name of Stanislav Antipin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Hayq say nothing, which says plenty.
Market21 Oct 2030
The shop window has Igor Pimenta in it
Hayq have let the market know Igor Pimenta can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market21 Oct 2030
Ícaro runs his contract down
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Hayq money.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Hayq and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Sergio Oerlemans
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Boardroom
Hayq keep producing them
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Match
Mid-table, and Hayq know it
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Oct 2030
“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 Hayq, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Oct 2030
A falling-out at Hayq
Stanislav Antipin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Vitor Manuel 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.
Boardroom14 Oct 2030
255% of the income goes out in wages at Hayq
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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
9 new faces, and Hayq 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.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
Sergio Oerlemans 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.
Market14 Oct 2030
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
No hiding place for Mica
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mica, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
Mica is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.