Marked for Damien Bricks
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at KTP this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 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 KTP know it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Nathaniel Tahmbi: 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.” KTP have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Otto Eloluoto and KTP agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at KTP
Timi Lahti 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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. Lauri Hulkkonen has moved up it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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 KTP would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at KTP
Timi Lahti 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
A promise honoured at KTP
Something was said to Damien Bricks and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market30 Nov 2026
The Maksym Zhuk question follows KTP around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Maksym Zhuk’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at KTP
Dennis Olsson 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Arttu Tulehmo commits to KTP for another 3 years.
Market23 Nov 2026
“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
Squad9 Nov 2026
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KTP lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at KTP
Timi Lahti 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mustapha Coker and KTP agree another 3 years.
Market9 Nov 2026
One of our own: Juhani Jensen joins the KTP first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Juhani Jensen is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ahmed Adebayo, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Mustapha Coker 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
Squad2 Nov 2026
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KTP lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at KTP
Timi Lahti 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
Ville Naakka is 20, and KTP have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Damien Bricks and KTP agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The formation has left Ville Naakka behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. KTP will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Mustapha Coker 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 KTP, and both men came out saying it was fine.