Marked for Filip Oblak
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Apr 2030
“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.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market1 Apr 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alvarado they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match30 Mar 2030
The wait goes on for Alvarado
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.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Facundo Centurión 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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“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; Alvarado are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Mar 2030
Alvarado counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Alvarado now.
Market25 Mar 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Mar 2030
The wait goes on for Alvarado
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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match23 Mar 2030
0‑2 to Los Andes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lautaro Núñez, and the manager let it.
Market25 Mar 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Santiago Gutiérrez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
Shots: 7, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings25 Mar 2030
A mark of 5.63 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Mar 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alvarado they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market4 Mar 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Aleksandre Okriashvili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match2 Mar 2030
Tristán Suárez left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Mar 2030
“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.
Squad4 Mar 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sebastián Carabajal commits to Alvarado for another 1 years.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Marco Miori named player of the month
The award goes to Marco Miori, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Feb 2030
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Ferro Carril Oeste, and it could have been more.
Boardroom25 Feb 2030
Alvarado counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Alvarado now.
Market25 Feb 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 10.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.84, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
Marked 8.28 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad25 Feb 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sebastián Carabajal and Alvarado agree another 1 years.
Squad25 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Federico, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Feb 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Aleksandre Okriashvili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Marked 8.97 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
A performance of 8.84 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nahuel Speck, and the manager let it.
Match9 Feb 2030
It needed Marco Miori to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Gimnasia y Tiro, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“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 Alvarado know it.
Market11 Feb 2030
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad11 Feb 2030
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Feb 2030
“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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Feb 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Renzo Sastre commits to Alvarado for another 3 years.
Squad4 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Feb 2030
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Sebastián Carabajal is a Alvarado player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market4 Feb 2030
The shirt still fits. Renzo Sastre is back at Alvarado, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“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 Alvarado know it.
Match2 Feb 2030
Marco Miori scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Arsenal, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Jan 2030
The numbers do not look good at Alvarado
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market28 Jan 2030
“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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom28 Jan 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Alvarado
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Alvarado is running low.
Market28 Jan 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Jan 2030
Facundo Centurión 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.
Market28 Jan 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Alvarado know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jan 2030
“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.
Market21 Jan 2030
Only the photograph left for Andrey David
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrey David will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alvarado the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Jan 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Santiago Ruiz’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad21 Jan 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lautaro Fernández trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jan 2030
“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 Alvarado, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Jan 2030
Luiz Felipe has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alvarado they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Jan 2030
Facundo Centurión 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.
Market14 Jan 2030
The Lucas Monzón story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Monzón signs something — a contract at Alvarado or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad14 Jan 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alvarado, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Jan 2030
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Shofwaan Ali arrives at Alvarado with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Jan 2030
Alvarado are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 58 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market7 Jan 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alvarado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market7 Jan 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alvarado can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Marco Miori is named among the best
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. Alvarado will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad7 Jan 2030
João Trevisol: 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.” Alvarado have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Dec 2029
Estudiantes come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Alvarado did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Dec 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.
Market24 Dec 2029
Only the photograph left for Andrey David
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrey David will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alvarado the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Dec 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 Alvarado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Oct 2029
The wait goes on for Al-Shoulla
10 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.
Market29 Oct 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.
Market29 Oct 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hussain Halawani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Shoulla the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Oct 2029
David Idaiye was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
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.
Boardroom29 Oct 2029
137% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Shoulla
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Filip Oblak gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
A defender's afternoon for Sinali Béré
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Robert Luthuli
5 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Oct 2029
9 matches without a win for Al-Shoulla
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Al-Shoulla are no longer polite ones.
Market22 Oct 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Oct 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Sinali Béré
“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.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
Marked 8.64 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad22 Oct 2029
9 goals and a season average of 7.28. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“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 Al-Shoulla know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Oct 2029
No end in sight to Al-Shoulla's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Shoulla has to find a result from somewhere.
Market15 Oct 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.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Abdulaziz Al-Othman 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 Oct 2029
“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.
Match13 Oct 2029
0‑1 to Al-Batin, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad15 Oct 2029
8 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
Tedi Malaj leaves them behind him
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Al-Shoulla would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Sep 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.
Match22 Sep 2029
No end in sight to Al-Shoulla's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Shoulla has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Sep 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Filip Oblak
“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.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Shots: 13, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match22 Sep 2029
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Al-Riyadh came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Shoulla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Sep 2029
Najran ended it 1‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market17 Sep 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 Al-Shoulla, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Sep 2029
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match15 Sep 2029
4 matches without a win for Al-Shoulla
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Al-Shoulla are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Sep 2029
David Idaiye was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dominic Kipkirui, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Sep 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Sep 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Sep 2029
“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 Al-Shoulla know it.
Match8 Sep 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Marked 8.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad10 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulaziz Al-Alawi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Sep 2029
David Idaiye 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 Al-Shoulla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 Sep 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with David Idaiye’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match25 Aug 2029
Nobody wants to play Al-Shoulla right now
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market27 Aug 2029
Tedi Malaj 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Aug 2029
David Idaiye 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Marked 8.69 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match25 Aug 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Abdulaziz Al-Othman’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al-Shoulla.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Filip Oblak gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Jul 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Jul 2029
David Idaiye 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Filip Oblak 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 Al-Shoulla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market30 Jul 2029
Rashid Toha linked with a move away
The name of Rashid Toha keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Shoulla say nothing, which says plenty.
Market30 Jul 2029
Al-Shoulla have made Denis Cheremisin available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Denis Cheremisin is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Jul 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Jul 2029
David Idaiye 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 Jul 2029
“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; Al-Shoulla are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad23 Jul 2029
David Idaiye 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.
Market23 Jul 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robert Luthuli signs something — a contract at Al-Shoulla or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market23 Jul 2029
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Al-Shoulla could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Jul 2029
Only the photograph left for David Idaiye
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Idaiye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Shoulla the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market16 Jul 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Jul 2029
David Idaiye 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2029
“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 Al-Shoulla know it.
Squad16 Jul 2029
David Idaiye 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 David Idaiye trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jun 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Al-Fateh come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Shoulla did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Sinali Béré 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Robert Luthuli signs something — a contract at Al-Shoulla or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market25 Jun 2029
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Al-Shoulla money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jun 2029
David Idaiye has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Shoulla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market18 Jun 2029
Filip Oblak 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Jun 2029
The phone has started ringing about Bartosz Żelazowski again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Fateh. Al-Shoulla are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad18 Jun 2029
David Idaiye 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market18 Jun 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Al-Shoulla will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“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 Al-Shoulla know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 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 Al-Shoulla can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jun 2029
David Idaiye 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
The medical room confirms 19 days on the sidelines for Abdulrahman Al-Sherif, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom11 Jun 2029
Wages eat 102% of everything Al-Shoulla earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market11 Jun 2029
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Al-Shoulla could get for him.
Market11 Jun 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammed Al-Dossary signs something — a contract at Al-Shoulla or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 May 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.
Market28 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartosz Żelazowski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Shoulla the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 May 2029
David Idaiye 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 Al-Shoulla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
David Idaiye 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.
Market28 May 2029
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Al-Shoulla could get for him.
Market28 May 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Shoulla know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Oct 2028
“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 Slonim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slonim is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Slonim
Dmitriy Vechorko 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
Crisis
Match13 May 2028
No end in sight to Slonim's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Slonim has to find a result from somewhere.
Match13 May 2028
1‑4 to Uni-X Labs, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market15 May 2028
“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 May 2028
Tempers go at Slonim
Dmitriy Vechorko 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.
Boardroom15 May 2028
161% of the income goes out in wages at Slonim
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings15 May 2028
A performance of 8.76 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad15 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Maxim Drozdov
“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.
Boardroom15 May 2028
Doors closed at Slonim
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad15 May 2028
Ilya Lebedev 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.