Marked for Ákos Perczel
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces3 Dec 2029
Supporters organise against the Grodig board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Grodig
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Grodig is running low.
Market3 Dec 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 The request is on a desk at Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words exchanged at Grodig
Alexander Schwaighofer 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.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Benjamin Leneis
“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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
A place in the month's best eleven for Ákos Perczel
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ákos Perczel has come out of that comparison in the side, and Grodig have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad3 Dec 2029
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Philipp Erhardt has moved up it.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Muhammed Sevgili's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Nov 2029
30 matches without a win for Grodig
The run now stands at 30, and the questions being asked around Grodig are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match26 Nov 2029
Grodig are in real trouble now
Position 10, 0 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match24 Nov 2029
0‑7 to Red Bull Salzburg, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match26 Nov 2029
The season ends: position 10 for Grodig
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 0 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Match24 Nov 2029
8 matches without a goal for Grodig
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match24 Nov 2029
No clean sheets in sight for Grodig
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Grodig
Alexander Schwaighofer 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Grodig dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Ákos Perczel
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Oct 2029
The wait goes on for Grodig
23 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.
Match6 Oct 2029
Grodig leaking at the back
16 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The terraces8 Oct 2029
The mood at Grodig has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match6 Oct 2029
Chastening afternoon for Grodig
A 0‑3 beating by Austria Wien was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandros Parras commits to Grodig for another 2 years.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Grodig
Sebastian Hölzl 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 dugout8 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Ognjen Mišić
“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.
Looking ahead8 Oct 2029
A six-pointer for Grodig
Mattersburg next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at Grodig
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Ákos Perczel makes the team of the month
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Grodig's wait for a win
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Grodig has to find a result from somewhere.
Match15 Sep 2029
No clean sheets in sight for Grodig
13 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match15 Sep 2029
Nowhere to hide for Grodig
0‑4 against Altach, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad17 Sep 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 Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets17 Sep 2029
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Grodig will try again when the window opens; Rapid Wien may not be selling by then.
Boardroom17 Sep 2029
Doors closed at Grodig
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces16 Jul 2029
The mood at Grodig has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market16 Jul 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Grodig have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad16 Jul 2029
William Okine damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Grodig can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ákos Perczel is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Grodig
Alexander Schwaighofer 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Adrien Thibaut has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
Ognjen Mišić 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.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
When it matters, Nino Lesjak plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces23 Apr 2029
Anger at Grodig 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.
Market23 Apr 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Grodig can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad23 Apr 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 Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Andrej Lazarevic 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 Apr 2029
Ognjen Mišić is still paying for one afternoon at Grodig
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market23 Apr 2029
Grodig have made Lukas Onisiwo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Woody Williamson 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Ákos Perczel is not doing himself any favours
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Grodig
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Grodig is running low.
Market2 Apr 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 Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Grodig
Benjamin Leneis 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 dugout2 Apr 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad2 Apr 2029
Andrej Lazarevic 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“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 Grodig know it.
The dugout2 Apr 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.
Boardroom2 Apr 2029
$229.4K a year onto the Grodig books
A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Ákos Perczel 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 Ákos Perczel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Mar 2029
Anger at Grodig 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.
Market26 Mar 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 Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad26 Mar 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 Grodig this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Ognjen Mišić 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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Ákos Perczel 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 Ákos Perczel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Thomas Onisiwo out for 17 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Grodig will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Mar 2029
Adrien Thibaut has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Grodig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Grodig
Alexander Schwaighofer 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 Mar 2029
Andrej Lazarevic 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Grodig can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Nino Lesjak has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Grodig 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Grodig money.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Luka Šalamun 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 Luka Šalamun trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Feb 2029
Adrien Thibaut has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Grodig they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at Grodig
Benjamin Leneis 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.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
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.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
The clock did what SV Ried would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Andrej Lazarevic 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 dugout12 Feb 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Patrick Scheibenhofer's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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 dugout12 Feb 2029
When it matters, Nino Lesjak plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
$760.0K settles it between the clubs for Argyris Darelas
Rapid Wien have accepted the money. What Grodig do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market15 Jan 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 Grodig, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
The paperwork begins on Ivan Božić
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Grodig have done the hard part with Sturm Graz, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Grodig asked and Rapid Wien said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Grodig
Benjamin Leneis 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.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Patrick Scheibenhofer's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad15 Jan 2029
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Grodig would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market15 Jan 2029
“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.