Marked for Guido Wimmer
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Sep 2028
Luka Caculović has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Altach they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benedikt Zech 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.
Match9 Sep 2028
Rapid Wien left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jan Paus-Kunšt, and the manager let it.
Market11 Sep 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Altach will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Sep 2028
5 new faces, and Altach 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.
Market11 Sep 2028
The shop window has Guido Wimmer in it
Altach have let the market know Guido Wimmer can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Matías Gutiérrez
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altach lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Daniel Antosch
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Antosch will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Altach the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Antosch
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altach lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Daniel Antosch: 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.” Altach have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Feb 2028
Altach say no — this time
The offer from Breidablik for David Aguy 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 49. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nick Scharkowski
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altach lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match1 Nov 2027
Altach are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 31 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aden Baldwin 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nick Scharkowski
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Altach lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match4 Oct 2027
Altach are in among the leaders
Position 3 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
Altach cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexander Gorgon and Altach agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Altach this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Álvaro Montoro 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
SV Ried made Altach work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A mark of 7.88, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Red Bull Salzburg, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market4 Oct 2027
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match2 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Mattersburg's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mattersburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Match2 Oct 2027
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mattersburg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastian Bauer and Mattersburg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Mattersburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gernot Lainer 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market13 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Guido Wimmer
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guido Wimmer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mattersburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match11 Sep 2027
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.
Match11 Sep 2027
The goals have deserted Mattersburg
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mattersburg can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Jack McMillan 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 Sep 2027
Gernot Lainer 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastian Bauer, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valentino Ilsanker trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Amir Ismaïl: 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.” Mattersburg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad6 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Mattersburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gernot Lainer 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
The goals have deserted Mattersburg
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mattersburg can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Point won or two lost for Mattersburg?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Sturm Graz? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market6 Sep 2027
The window shut and Peter Lainer is still in the building
Mattersburg spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Market6 Sep 2027
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Mattersburg could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 51. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market16 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Guido Wimmer
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guido Wimmer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mattersburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Jack McMillan 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 Aug 2027
Gonçalo Sousa is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Gernot Lainer 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 terraces16 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Peter Lainer 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Sebastian Bauer
“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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Grodig made Mattersburg work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Marked 7.96 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Mattersburg had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2027
9 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Gernot Lainer 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
4 matches without a goal for Mattersburg
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nikola Petković commits to Mattersburg for another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Sebastian Bauer 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
Rapid Wien left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“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; Mattersburg are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Mattersburg has been clear about where Xaver Hinteregger stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alper Ademoğlu
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jul 2027
Guido Wimmer has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mattersburg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
Alper Ademoğlu damages knee ligaments — 39 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vadim Rassadin is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Jack McMillan 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Nikola Petković for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Mattersburg will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Market5 Jul 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Mattersburg sign 4 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
Peter Lainer 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 Mattersburg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Gernot Lainer is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market21 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Guido Wimmer
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guido Wimmer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mattersburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Jun 2027
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Josh Tobin is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Mattersburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gernot Lainer 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Erick Torres has improved at 24, 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
Alexander Gorgon damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Lukas Jäger breaks a bone — 97 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market7 Jun 2027
Business is business: Yann Massombo goes
Wolfsberger AC paid $1.1M and Altach took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Altach
Benjamin Böckle 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 Jun 2027
Words at Altach training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Montoro 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Guido Wimmer has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Mattersburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastian Bauer 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mattersburg know it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Afonso Machado and Mattersburg agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Federico Sardella 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.
Market24 May 2027
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 May 2027
Jack McMillan 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Federico Sardella
127 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 May 2027
A fracture rules Gonçalo Sousa out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 May 2027
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Federico Sardella
160 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Gonçalo Sousa out for 52 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Apr 2027
Guido Wimmer 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 Mattersburg can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Gonçalo Sousa breaks a bone — 67 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Heinz Schlager
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Gonçalo Sousa out for 82 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 2027
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Gonçalo Sousa out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Gonçalo Sousa out for 112 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.