Marked for Émile Gonzalez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom21 Apr 2031
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Spartak Kostroma
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market21 Apr 2031
“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.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Đorđe Pantelić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Nikolay Tarasov 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.
Loan watch21 Apr 2031
“I watch every Spartak Kostroma game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zenit runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
Émile Gonzalez asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout21 Apr 2031
The manager makes an example of Ivan Petrov
“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.
Market21 Apr 2031
The clock does Dmitry Melnik’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Spartak Kostroma could ask drops and the wages Dmitry Melnik can ask rise.
Market21 Apr 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikolay Tarasov signs something — a contract at Spartak Kostroma or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Feb 2031
No end in sight to Spartak Kostroma's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Spartak Kostroma has to find a result from somewhere.
Market17 Feb 2031
“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 The request is on a desk at Spartak Kostroma, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Feb 2031
At 19, Yakov Suvorov is already the best thing here
An average of 6.60 in a first team he is several years too young for. Spartak Kostroma have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad17 Feb 2031
Đorđe Pantelić 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.
Squad17 Feb 2031
A move Arttu Lötjönen 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. Arttu Lötjönen is living that version at Spartak Kostroma, and it tends to show in the first month.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Nikolay Tarasov 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.
Transfer targets17 Feb 2031
Spartak Kostroma asked and CSKA Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Dec 2029
“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 AC Ajaccio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Robin Maulun 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 AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Dec 2029
A row about effort at AC Ajaccio
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paris Brunner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market17 Dec 2029
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Raymond Brun has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market17 Dec 2029
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Joseph Le Gall is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market17 Dec 2029
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roger Blanc has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
Paris Brunner knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Paris Brunner trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
A promise honoured at AC Ajaccio
Something was said to Bruno Figueiredo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The terraces17 Dec 2029
The Daniel Meyer rumours reach the terraces
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. AC Ajaccio would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Nov 2029
AC Ajaccio throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Clermont Foot the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that AC Ajaccio will enjoy reviewing.
Market19 Nov 2029
“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.
Match17 Nov 2029
No end in sight to AC Ajaccio's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AC Ajaccio has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Nov 2029
16 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Robin Maulun 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 AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paris Brunner 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.
Match17 Nov 2029
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad19 Nov 2029
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Nov 2029
“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 AC Ajaccio, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Nov 2029
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match10 Nov 2029
The wait goes on for AC Ajaccio
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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Paris Brunner 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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces12 Nov 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Paris Brunner 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.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Rosier, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Ninety minutes of Paris Brunner at his very best
Marked 8.24. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AC Ajaccio.
Match10 Nov 2029
Late, late show earns AC Ajaccio a point
Minute 95, against Stade Lavallois, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Oct 2029
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AC Ajaccio will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Lucas Rosier 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 AC Ajaccio this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Words at AC Ajaccio training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paris Brunner 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.
Market22 Oct 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Artem Gyurdzhan has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at AC Ajaccio.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
A promise honoured at AC Ajaccio
Something was said to Émile Gonzalez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
“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.
Match20 Oct 2029
A 1‑1 draw with FC Metz leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
Paris Brunner knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AC Ajaccio, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Aug 2029
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AC Ajaccio will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad6 Aug 2029
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.
Market6 Aug 2029
Daniel Meyer 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 AC Ajaccio can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
A defender's goal wins it for AC Ajaccio — 7.68
1 for Émile Gonzalez, marked 7.68, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Match4 Aug 2029
4 matches without a win for AC Ajaccio
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around AC Ajaccio are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
An offer of $550.0K for Bocar Sy
AC Ajaccio have gone to Stade Brestois with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Giovanni Carbone is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Paris Brunner and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at AC Ajaccio
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at AC Ajaccio is running low.
Market25 Jun 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AC Ajaccio can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Paris Brunner 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.
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Robin Maulun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jun 2029
A move Santiago Cerabona 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. Santiago Cerabona is living that version at AC Ajaccio, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Paris Brunner 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.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to RC Lens: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
AC Ajaccio have made the call to Paris Saint-Germain. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.