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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
In brief
SquadFrederik Jensen falls out with a teammate over standards
Renat Ozobic 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.
Elio Gjoshi 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Renat Ozobic will call it something else in private.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Teuta Durrës kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Tirana will be asked about the last half hour all week.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.41 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sebastian Piatek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Nov 2040
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renat Ozobic 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Tirana deserved better, and so did he.
In brief
Player ratingsOff the bench and decisive: Albano Kumbaro
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Donat Mehmeti
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Elio Gjoshi 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; Tirana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Oct 2040
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renat Ozobic 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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Patrik Myslovič 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.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 8 and 2 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Elio Gjoshi 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.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana 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 Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Tirana training over how hard people work
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 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.
Patrik Myslovič 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.
A conversation is coming this week. Tirana will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad10 Sep 2040
Bohdan Striuk 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.
Frederik Jensen is 20, and Tirana 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 55 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tirana has been clear about where Bohdan Striuk stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tirana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom27 Aug 2040
13 academy players handed senior numbers at Tirana
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Add another name to the list: Partizani Tirana have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Donat Mehmeti. The answer from Tirana has not changed — yet.
Elio Gjoshi 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.
Squad27 Aug 2040
Bohdan Striuk 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 words a physio says slowly. 69 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Aug 2040
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bohdan Striuk 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.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The name of Donat Mehmeti has come up in conversations Tirana were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Elio Gjoshi 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.
Squad6 Aug 2040
Bohdan Striuk 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 words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
The offer from Egnatia Rrogozhinë for Albano Kumbaro 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Sebastian Piatek is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Renat Ozobic damages knee ligaments — 105 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 105 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.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Egnatia Rrogozhinë have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Donat Mehmeti. The answer from Tirana has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2040
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bohdan Striuk 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.
Renat Ozobic damages knee ligaments — 112 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.
The offer from Flamurtari for Sebastian Piatek 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.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Elio Gjoshi 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 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.
Renat Ozobic damages knee ligaments — 119 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 119 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tirana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The offer from Egnatia Rrogozhinë for Albano Kumbaro 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Tirana will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad2 Jul 2040
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albano Kumbaro 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.
Renat Ozobic damages knee ligaments — 126 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 126 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mattias Svanberg will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The name of Donat Mehmeti has come up in conversations Tirana were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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.
Squad18 Jun 2040
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renat Ozobic 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 offer from Flamurtari for Sebastian Piatek 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tirana can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mattias Svanberg has agreed terms with Dinamo City for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad11 Jun 2040
Renat Ozobic 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.
Elio Gjoshi 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Egnatia Rrogozhinë will make the call about Richard Watson this week. Tirana have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 May 2040
Renat Ozobic 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.
Elio Gjoshi 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Tirana know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Tirana, another week without a signature from Arlis Shkembi.
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdelsamad Hachem 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.
Henri Sinani 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.
Nobody at Tirana 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tirana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mattias Svanberg will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana 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 Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Renat Ozobic.
Squad28 Nov 2039
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albano Kumbaro 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 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.99 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Jose Pereira 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Donat Mehmeti. 2‑0 against Teuta Durrës, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Nov 2039
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdelsamad Hachem 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.
Henri Sinani 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.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Albano Kumbaro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana 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 Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Tirana 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tirana can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tirana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
11 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Elio Gjoshi 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.
Add another name to the list: Dinamo City have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mattias Svanberg. The answer from Tirana has not changed — yet.
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.
Nobody at Tirana 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.
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.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 6 and 11 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.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Dinamo City for Donat Mehmeti 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tirana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Jun 2039
Ivo Mihaylov 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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Henri Sinani 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.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdelsamad Hachem 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.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tirana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Patrik Myslovič 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Teuta Durrës will make the call about Donat Mehmeti this week. Tirana have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tirana has been clear about where Richard Watson stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 6 and 11 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Henri Sinani 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.
Squad30 May 2039
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdelsamad Hachem 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.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Leo Begolli 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.
Squad23 May 2039
Etienne Tare 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.
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Donat Mehmeti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana 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 Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tirana can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tirana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tirana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tirana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Henri Sinani 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.
Squad2 May 2039
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Etienne Tare 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.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Donat Mehmeti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana 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 Tirana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Henri Sinani is a Tirana player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad18 Apr 2039
Words at Tirana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Etienne Tare 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.
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.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tirana can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
In brief
SquadEtienne Tare falls out with a teammate over standards
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tirana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Etienne Tare 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
In brief
SquadWords at Tirana training over how hard people work
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Patrik Myslovič 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
SquadEtienne Tare falls out with a teammate over standards
SquadEtienne Tare has become a man the manager trusts
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Donat Mehmeti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Patrik Myslovič 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
SquadEtienne Tare falls out with a teammate over standards
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tirana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“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 Tirana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tirana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Housine 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.
Squad7 Mar 2039
Etienne Tare 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.
138 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tirana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Richard Smith will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tirana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
In brief
SquadWords at Tirana training over how hard people work