“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Stripfing hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Kevin Weimann 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Stripfing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sota Kitano 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.
“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; Stripfing are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
43 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stripfing can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Stripfing hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
Connor Roberts 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Julian Halwachs trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Stripfing have no good answer.
Position 5, 43 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Words at Stripfing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sota Kitano 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.
David Lainer 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stripfing has been clear about where Mario Zocher stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Lainer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Stripfing have no good answer.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A 1‑1 draw with Admira Wacker leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Philipp Lindner chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Stripfing know which stage they are at.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Patrick Junuzovic signs something — a contract at Stripfing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Stripfing have no good answer.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Stripfing will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Stripfing close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Stripfing asked and Opava said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jovan Živković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Stripfing are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It needed Tommaso Gabellini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Austria Klagenfurt, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Philipp Dragovic has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stripfing can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Boca Juniors is saying, and nobody at Stripfing is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Partizan have kept their man, and Stripfing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Philipp Lindner after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Stripfing will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Stripfing will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stripfing can pretend not to have heard.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Stripfing will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Stripfing asked and Grazer AK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Stripfing, and 5 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Stripfing hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Kevin Weimann 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julian Halwachs, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Philipp Lindner to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Stripfing will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Stripfing know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“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 Stripfing know it.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Rapid Wien II? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Stripfing can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Philipp Lindner left the room before anybody could ask which.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Marco Laimer is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kevin Weimann signs something — a contract at Stripfing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Stripfing have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Augusto Batioja trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Connor Roberts 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jovan Živković. 2‑0 against Sturm Graz II, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Stripfing will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stripfing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Kevin Weimann 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.
A 1‑0 win over Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“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; Stripfing are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Philipp Hinteregger commits to Stripfing for another 3 years.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Philipp Lindner kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Position 3, 60 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.
The fee is $250.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. St. Pölten drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Stripfing have gone to Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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.
Meguru Odagaki was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $500.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Stripfing asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Stripfing know it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Stripfing will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stripfing lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Position 3, 60 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.
Add another name to the list: Köln have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Heinz Wober. The answer from Stripfing has not changed — yet.
“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; Stripfing are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Lainer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Stripfing would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
In brief
The terracesThe stands have heard the Heinz Wober talk too
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marco Arnautovic trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Stripfing have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Stripfing would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Mario Zocher has written the date down.
Through a full week of training without a reaction, and already asking for a place. Stripfing will be careful with him and he will resent every day of it.
“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; Stripfing are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Lainer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Brayan Marín has, at Stripfing, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Stripfing. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A new face in his position, and Patrick Junuzovic suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Stripfing have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Patrick Junuzovic signs something — a contract at Stripfing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stripfing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Stripfing heard it as anything else.
“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 Stripfing know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stripfing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Philipp Lindner after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stripfing, another week without a signature from Julian Halwachs.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Sepsi OSK had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
1 for Markus Kalajdzic, marked 7.88, 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.
Kevin Weimann 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Andreas Kuen was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.37. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Philipp Lindner, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andreas Kuen. 3‑1 against FC Liefering, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
David 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Jovan Živković 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Stripfing heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dejan Lazaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Stripfing.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Philipp Lindner kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stripfing lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Stripfing, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $207.0K — a club that wants Maximilian Scharfetter enough to be asked twice.
Stripfing have gone to Amstetten 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hertha Wels have kept their man, and Stripfing go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Stripfing offered $88.0K; Hertha Wels said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.