Marked for Daniel Trişcă-Sălăgean
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Jul 2028
The wait goes on for Kalmar FF
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces3 Jul 2028
Anger at Kalmar FF spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad3 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Kalmar FF
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lars Sætra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Jul 2028
25 games in 136 appearances where nobody scored at all. A keeper's career is counted in nothing happening, and none of this happened by accident.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market3 Jul 2028
“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 dugout3 Jul 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
8 new boys at the Kalmar FF academy
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Melvin Koliqi makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 May 2028
Kalmar FF through in the cup
A 3‑0 win over Brommapojkarna, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Player ratings8 May 2028
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.81, and nobody on the pitch better.
The terraces8 May 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniel Trişcă-Sălăgean 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.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at Kalmar FF
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Gojani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ricardo Schutte and Kalmar FF agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 May 2028
“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.
Market8 May 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kalmar FF, another week without a signature from Robert Gojani.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Câmpulung Muscel waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CSM Reșița is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CSM Reșița have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Marius Cioiu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at CSM Reșița
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammed Kamara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“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 CSM Reșița know it.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Debrecen have kept their man, and CSM Reșița go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Ionuţ Rus
“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.