Marked for Aswin
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout19 Nov 2029
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Squad19 Nov 2029
Alexis Messidoro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at Dewa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damion Lowe 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.
Boardroom19 Nov 2029
86% of the income goes out in wages at Dewa United
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 dugout19 Nov 2029
Johnathan gets picked when it counts
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 Johnathan is on it.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
Aswin gets it from the manager
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Nov 2029
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Market12 Nov 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yofandani Pranata will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dewa United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Nov 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 Dewa United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivar Jenner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market12 Nov 2029
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Witan Pratama has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market12 Nov 2029
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Witan Supriadi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market12 Nov 2029
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andri Putra has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
Aswin 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.
In brief
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The dugout
Johnathan keeps his manager's vote
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Squad
Alex is out on the grass again
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Oct 2029
Noah Sadaoui 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Damion Lowe 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 Oct 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market29 Oct 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ivar Jenner’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match29 Oct 2029
Dewa United have something to play for
Position 4 on 57 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
The dugout29 Oct 2029
Zidane Afandi 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 Dewa United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Oct 2029
Alexis Messidoro 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Ivar Jenner 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
Alexis Messidoro has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dewa United 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.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
Aswin gets it from the manager
“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.
Market1 Oct 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ivar Jenner’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match1 Oct 2029
Dewa United have something to play for
Position 4 on 57 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Sep 2029
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.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 12 gone
That is the business done at Dewa United until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad3 Sep 2029
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Noah Sadaoui 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at Dewa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damion Lowe 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.
Match1 Sep 2029
Persis made Dewa United work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Marked 8.10 — 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 dugout3 Sep 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Hendro Sucipto, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout3 Sep 2029
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 Alexis Messidoro is on it.
In brief
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The dugout
Aswin gets it from the manager
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Luca Sapiente
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for Damion Lowe
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Age has not caught Alex yet — 7.80
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad6 Aug 2029
The medical room confirms 68 days on the sidelines for Alexis Messidoro, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Alex signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alex and Dewa United agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Ivar Jenner 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Damion Lowe 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.
Match4 Aug 2029
A 2‑0 win over Maluku Utara United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Marked 8.22 — 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 ratings6 Aug 2029
A performance of 8.11 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Damion Lowe commits to Dewa United for another 2 years.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Ivar Jenner 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.
Match7 Jul 2029
Persita left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Alexis Messidoro 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.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
10 combined actions and 6.72. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
“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.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dewa United told Rafael Struick something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 May 2029
“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.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damion Lowe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 May 2029
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 May 2029
Alexis Messidoro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 May 2029
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 1‑3 Hendro Sucipto left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout14 May 2029
Johnathan gets picked when it counts
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 Johnathan is on it.
The dugout14 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Aswin
“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.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Alex could have had three
7 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Apr 2029
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
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Market30 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dewa United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Dewa United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damion Lowe 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.
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
Persijap will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Muhammad Ridwan has pre-agreed a move to Dewa United, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Alexis Messidoro 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.
Match28 Apr 2029
0‑2 to Bali United, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
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 0‑2 Hendro Sucipto left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.