30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Partizan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Arsenal keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“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 The request is on a desk at Partizan, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Partizan have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Partizan offered $430.0K; Vojvodina said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The name of Travis Akomeah has come up in conversations Partizan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FCI Levadia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Narva Trans is saying, and nobody at FCI Levadia is enjoying the guessing.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flora have kept their man, and FCI Levadia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Edvin Pasagic 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dawid Pietruszka. 1‑0 against Vaprus, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mustapha Koma
A 2‑1 win over Harju JK Laagri, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. FCI Levadia scored in the 113th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“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 FCI Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around FCI Levadia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Leonard Chatelin Gweth provided it, and the 9.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FCI Levadia have done the hard part with Flora, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Flora keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Narva Trans waiting with a shirt. Nobody at FCI Levadia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FCI Levadia have done the hard part with Flora, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Didi 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; FCI Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
FCI Levadia asked and Flora said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad4 Jun 2035
Edvin Pasagic 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 name of Jakub Zielinski has come up in conversations FCI Levadia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings4 Jun 2035
Modou Keita 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Modou Keita is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Jun 2035
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.” Karl Mets, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Leonard Chatelin Gweth provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Didi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2035
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvin Pasagic 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for FCI Levadia is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Didi 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.
Squad14 May 2035
Edvin Pasagic 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at FCI Levadia, another week without a signature from Leonard Chatelin Gweth.
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.
Didi 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.
Squad7 May 2035
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvin Pasagic 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Nomme Kalju tried to reorganise, FCI Levadia did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. FCI Levadia will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Position 3, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alukam Iwuorie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at FCI Levadia.
The dugout30 Apr 2035
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.” Karl Mets, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Nobody at FCI Levadia 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.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Nobody at FCI Levadia is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvin Pasagic was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 5 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
The dugout23 Apr 2035
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Karl Mets to a room that had heard them before.
Squad23 Apr 2035
5 new faces, and FCI Levadia 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.
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.
Didi 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.
Squad16 Apr 2035
Edvin Pasagic 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; FCI Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. FCI Levadia know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. FC Tallinn will replay every second of the added time for a week.
“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 FCI Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joonas Baranov did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Didi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvin Pasagic 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at FCI Levadia, another week without a signature from Leonard Chatelin Gweth.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Chigozie Ani is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Raffaele Cirino has his answer from FCI Levadia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FCI Levadia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Mar 2035
Chigozie Ani 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Karl Mets on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 Egor Mychelkin is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FCI Levadia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Welco were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Didi 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Modou Keita in the middle of it, and Welco unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Squad19 Mar 2035
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alukam Iwuorie 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Karl Mets on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Edvin Pasagic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Mustafa Beyai
The dugoutMustafa Beyai has become a man the manager trusts
“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 FCI Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Mathias Villota has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means FCI Levadia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chigozie Ani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Konstantin Kait and FCI Levadia agree another 3 years.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alukam Iwuorie 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.
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 Egor Mychelkin is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FCI Levadia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee FCI Levadia could ask drops and the wages Edvin Pasagic can ask rise.
The deal that would have taken Edvin Pasagic to Narva Trans has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to FCI Levadia with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; FCI Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad12 Feb 2035
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chigozie Ani 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.
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 Dawid Pietruszka is on it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FCI Levadia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 FCI Levadia know it.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. FCI Levadia will try again when the window opens; Paide may not be selling by then.
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alukam Iwuorie 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Edvin Pasagic will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Levadia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chigozie Ani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
FCI Levadia asked and Flora said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Thomas Prass again, and this time the name on the line is Tallinna Kalev. FCI Levadia are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 Egor Mychelkin is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Edvin Pasagic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and FC Tallinn waiting with a shirt. Nobody at FCI Levadia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FCI Levadia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FCI Levadia have done the hard part with Flora, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Chigozie Ani 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momodou Njie was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flora have kept their man, and FCI Levadia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from Narva Trans for Edvin Pasagic was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Paide have accepted the money. What FCI Levadia do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Didi 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.
Squad8 Jan 2035
Momodou Njie 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 name of Thomas Prass has come up in conversations FCI Levadia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at FCI Levadia, another week without a signature from Leonard Chatelin Gweth.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chigozie Ani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. FCI Levadia had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Didi 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.
Squad1 Jan 2035
Chigozie Ani 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FCI Levadia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Didi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Momodou Njie 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.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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 Dawid Pietruszka is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FCI Levadia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; FCI Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 Georginio De Vrij is on it.
In brief
The dugoutEdvin Pasagic knocks on the manager’s door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Didi 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.
“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 FCI Levadia know it.
Squad4 Dec 2034
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alukam Iwuorie 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FCI Levadia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Words at FCI Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chigozie Ani 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.
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.
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 FCI Levadia would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salvatore Bertolini will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Levadia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Didi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Momodou Njie 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.
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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FCI Levadia, and both men came out saying it was fine.