Marked for Silver Pikk
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
There were 11 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.
Squad3 May 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.
Market3 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 May 2027
Ken Kallaste 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.
Squad3 May 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 May 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market26 Apr 2027
Markus Ojamaa 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 FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Antonio González 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.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A mark of 7.83, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Artur Tamm 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Taijo Antonov dropped after a run of poor form
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Every debut is a small story about the future: Martin Kruglov, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market26 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FCI Tallinn know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Apr 2027
2‑5 against Parnu, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market19 Apr 2027
Karl Pikk 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 FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Apr 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between FCI Tallinn and Parnu, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Silver Pikk 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 ratings19 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Karol Sappinen ran the middle of the pitch — 7.75
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.75, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Klavan, and the manager let it.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Mar 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Karl Mets scored one and made one — 7.93
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.93, and 2 involvements.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio González 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Three points for FCI Tallinn, 2‑1 the final word against Tulevik in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Karl Mets 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market22 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Karol Sappinen 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ken Kallaste is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match20 Mar 2027
A 1‑0 win over Tammeka, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad22 Mar 2027
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergei Igonen, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
7.64, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. FCI Tallinn had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Antonio González 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 Feb 2027
Silver Pikk 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ken Kallaste 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Artur Pikk breaks a bone — 88 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Silver Pikk 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.