Marked for Dvir Guy
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Mar 2029
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Madura United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match17 Mar 2029
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 dugout19 Mar 2029
Dvir Guy keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Madura United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Pedro Monteiro 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 terraces19 Mar 2029
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jajá was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Too much change too quickly at Madura United
7 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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
No hiding place for Ido David
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ido David, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jan 2029
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Madura United lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market29 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Pedro Monteiro 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 dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Paulo Sitanggang has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Madura United is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Madura United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emerson Souza 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Madura United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2029
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Madura United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Pedro Monteiro 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.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
The numbers do not look good at Madura United
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Emerson Souza 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
The formation has left Rahmat Arjuna behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Madura United will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Dvir Guy
“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.
Market22 Jan 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Riquelme’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
Reyki Fariz 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
Squad20 Nov 2028
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Madura United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Madura United is running low.
Squad20 Nov 2028
95 days out for Cahya Supriadi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Madura United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Jordy Wehrmann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Itai Danor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Dvir Guy
“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.
Market20 Nov 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Júnior Brandão signs something — a contract at Madura United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Ido David 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.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ramazan Bayram has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Cahya Supriadi out for 116 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Madura United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Jordy Wehrmann 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.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Kerim Palić 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 dugout30 Oct 2028
“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.
Market30 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Riquelme’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Aug 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Match5 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Madura United's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Madura United has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Dvir Guy arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dvir Guy has, at Madura United, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Jordy Wehrmann 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.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The numbers do not look good at Madura United
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
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.
Match5 Aug 2028
PSIM left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Giovani Numberi and Madura United agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Irfan Jaya 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.