Jowell Carabalí

Central Defender - Lucko
9 Dec 2040
Sunday
Process

Marked for Jowell Carabalí

744 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

29 Oct 2040
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdoul Salla Camara

120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lucko lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Mihai Stanciu lights up a European night for Lucko

3‑1 against Kayserispor, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Mihai Stanciu was at the centre of the description.

Player ratings

A brace, and Mihai Stanciu takes the afternoon — 7.99

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mihai Stanciu provided it, and the 7.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Paul Vincent is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Lucko is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Match

Lucko get the job done against HNK Gorica

A 2‑1 win over HNK Gorica, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Robin Xavi Simons 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.

Player ratings

Roko Ban takes the honours

Marked 7.98 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Lucko had the best player on the pitch.

Squad

Kirill Moiseev left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Kirill Moiseev will call it something else in private.

In brief

Back issues
743 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

22 Oct 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Abdoul Salla Camara

127 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lucko lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Alexandre Martins keeps Lucko in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Lucko are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 24 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Match

The wait goes on for Lucko

5 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.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Lucko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robin Xavi Simons 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.

In brief

737 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

10 Sep 2040
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Age has not caught Abdoul Salla Camara yet — 7.88

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.88 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Luka Lazovic hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lucko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Paul Vincent runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at Lucko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robin Xavi Simons 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.

The terraces

Lucko supporters have found a favourite in Paul Vincent

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Paul Vincent 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.

Match

Lucko find a way past HNK Vukovar 1991

HNK Vukovar 1991 made Lucko work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Andreas Lainer signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andreas Lainer commits to Lucko for another 3 years.

Market

Lucko buy the years ahead of Vedran Kovacevic

He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

In brief

736 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

3 Sep 2040
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Alexandre Martins keeps Lucko in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

So close: Alexandre Martins’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Hrvatski Dragovoljac moved on, Alexandre Martins reports back to Lucko, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Market

Only the photograph left for Paul Vincent

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paul Vincent will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lucko the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Florian Lindner puts it in writing

“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 Lucko, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Match

Lucko find a way past Imotski

Imotski made Lucko work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The terraces

Lucko supporters have found a favourite in Alexandre Martins

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandre Martins 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Roko Ban

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Leander Boyata signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Leander Boyata and Lucko agree another 3 years.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Lucko training over how hard people work
  • Player ratings Nobody could get near Beka Gvelesiani
  • Market The window shut and Roko Ban is still in the building
734 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

20 Aug 2040
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Marius van der Raad breaks a bone — 26 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alexandre Martins

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Only the photograph left for Roko Ban

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roko Ban will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lucko the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Kirill Moiseev yet — 7.84

At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Market

Erik Isak asks to leave Lucko

“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.

Squad

Marco Martoccia keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lucko may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Abdoul Salla Camara 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.

Match

Lucko find a way past NK Osijek

NK Osijek made Lucko work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Jowell Carabalí

18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

In brief

733 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

13 Aug 2040
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Marius van der Raad out for 33 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Lucko turn down Dugopolje for Alexandre Martins

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Mattia Zamuner asks to leave Lucko

“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.

Squad

Mario Marchetti says Lucko went back on their word

“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.

Market

Marius van der Raad has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lucko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Robin Xavi Simons

21 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

Florian Lindner has improved at 28, 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.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Jowell Carabalí

Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

731 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

30 Jul 2040
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Alexandre Martins keeps Lucko in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Lucko run riot against Dinamo Zagreb

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

A fracture rules Marius van der Raad out for 47 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Rick De Jong hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lucko can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Abdoul Salla Camara, 34, rolls back the years — 7.94

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.94 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jowell Carabalí and Lucko agree another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Abdoul Salla Camara 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 terraces

Lucko supporters have found a favourite in Alexandre Martins

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandre Martins 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.

Player ratings

Paul Vincent changes it off the bench

He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Lucko had a different afternoon.

In brief

729 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

16 Jul 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Marius van der Raad out for 61 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Alexandre Martins attracts admirers

The name of Alexandre Martins has come up in conversations Lucko were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

Only the photograph left for Marius van der Raad

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius van der Raad will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lucko the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Squad

Robin Xavi Simons 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.

Market

The Paul Vincent conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Istra 1961 will make the call about Paul Vincent this week. Lucko have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

726 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

25 Jun 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Marius van der Raad out for 82 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Roko Ban has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lucko they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Marco Martoccia asks to leave Lucko

“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.

Market

HNK Vukovar 1991 join the queue for Alexandre Martins

Add another name to the list: HNK Vukovar 1991 have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexandre Martins. The answer from Lucko has not changed — yet.

Market

Lucko say no — this time

The offer from HNK Vukovar 1991 for Marius van der Raad 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.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Lucko training over how hard people work
  • Squad Lucko keep their word to Roko Ban
722 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

28 May 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Devis Pacchioli

36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lucko lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Marius van der Raad out for 110 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Rick De Jong asks to leave Lucko

“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.

In brief

715 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

9 Apr 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Alexandre Martins hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lucko can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí 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.

In brief

708 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

20 Feb 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Lucko

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Lucko is running low.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Lucko training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robin Xavi Simons 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.

In brief

701 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

2 Jan 2040
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Lucko put Josip Sucic on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Squad

Marco Martoccia breaks a bone — 20 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Paul Vincent asks to leave Lucko

“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.

Squad

The season belongs to Alexandre Martins

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Lucko have had the benefit of it.

Market

Sesvete join the queue for Alexandre Martins

Add another name to the list: Sesvete have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexandre Martins. The answer from Lucko has not changed — yet.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Squad

Robin Xavi Simons 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.

Market

Erik Isak placed on the list

Lucko have made Erik Isak available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Market

Tin Grbic leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Tin Grbic leaves Lucko the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief

  • Boardroom Lucko keep producing them
  • Boardroom Lucko were not finished after all
694 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

14 Nov 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Marco Martoccia out for 69 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alexandre Martins

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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

691 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

24 Oct 2039
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Marco Martoccia out for 90 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Lucko

Position 8 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Lucko

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.

Squad

Devis Pacchioli: 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.” Lucko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Abdoul Salla Camara in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The goals have deserted Lucko

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lucko can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Richard Cunningham 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.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Lois Openda

Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Jowell Carabalí

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

  • Player ratings Nobody could get near Roko Ban
  • Match Point won or two lost for Lucko?
690 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

17 Oct 2039
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Marco Martoccia out for 97 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alexandre Martins

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Abdoul Salla Camara 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.

Squad

Robin Xavi Simons 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Alexandre Martins

At 22 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.

Player ratings

Lovro Krišto did the work nobody counts — 6.89

9 combined actions and 6.89. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

In brief

687 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

26 Sep 2039
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Marco Martoccia out for 118 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Lucko are in real trouble now

Position 8, 10 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.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Lucko

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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alexandre Martins

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Lucko come up short against NK Osijek

NK Osijek left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

680 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

8 Aug 2039
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Alexandre Martins keeps Lucko in it on his own

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.

Squad

Boris Sucic breaks a bone — 24 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Luka Lazovic keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lucko may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Lucko

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lucko can tell you which week it ends in.

Player ratings

Robin Xavi Simons shuts the door

Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Market

Still no ink between Lucko and Alexandre Martins

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Lucko, another week without a signature from Alexandre Martins.

Market

Marius van der Raad told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Marius van der Raad has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Lucko.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Lois Openda

Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

677 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

18 Jul 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Mattia Zamuner: 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.” Lucko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Real improvement from Paul Vincent at Lucko

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Paul Vincent is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

673 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

20 Jun 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

No hiding place for Jowell Carabalí

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jowell Carabalí, and the manager let it.

Squad

Haukur Ingason 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.

In brief

670 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

30 May 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Silverware for Lucko

They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.

Boardroom

Lucko are going up

Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.

Squad

A season's verdict on Alexandre Martins: the best of his age

Lucko have a 21-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.

Squad

The season belongs to Niko Đolonga

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Lucko have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Remember the name: Alexandre Martins

He is 21, he is averaging 7.24, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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

  • Boardroom Lucko cannot sign anybody
  • Boardroom Lucko keep producing them
666 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

2 May 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Remember the name: Alexandre Martins

He is 21, he is averaging 7.24, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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.

Squad

Haukur Ingason out for 17 days

The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Haukur Ingason, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

  • Boardroom The owner puts $113.3K into Lucko
  • Boardroom Lucko cannot sign anybody
  • Squad Alexandre Martins gets it from the manager
  • Boardroom Lucko keep producing them
663 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

11 Apr 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Lucko refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 40 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Jowell Carabalí in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Haukur Ingason 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.

In brief

659 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

14 Mar 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Florian Lindner out for 18 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Lucko up to position 1

40 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Tempers go at Lucko

Jowell Carabalí 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

655 Edition

The Lucko Gazette

14 Feb 2039
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Florian Lindner out for 46 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Lucko refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 40 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Santiago García in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A move Jowell Carabalí would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jowell Carabalí is living that version at Lucko, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

No hiding place for Alexandre Martins

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandre Martins, and the manager let it.

Market

Lucko shop where it costs nothing

Jowell Carabalí signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.

In brief