Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Jere Koponen 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Brent Zenjov 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Levadia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 The request is on a desk at Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Jere Koponen 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.
In brief
SquadBrent Zenjov falls out with a teammate over standards
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Levadia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Levadia training over how hard people work
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Brent Zenjov 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.
At 22 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.
“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 ratings28 Aug 2028
Brent Zenjov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.51. 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Vladislav Yatskevich 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Zenjov 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.
“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 Levadia know it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Levadia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Vladislav Yatskevich 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 Aug 2028
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Zenjov 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Brent Zenjov 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.
“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; Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joonas 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.
“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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Brent Zenjov 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.
Joonas Kallaste 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Levadia training over how hard people work
FCI Tallinn will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑3, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Levadia were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
A brace, and Brent Zenjov takes the afternoon — 9.84
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Brent Zenjov provided it, and the 9.84 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mihkel Dmitrijev provided it, and the 8.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Levadia and FCI Tallinn, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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.
At 22 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.
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.
Ken Dmitrijev 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joonas 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.
“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 Levadia know it.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Markus Dmitrijev: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.38 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
1 for Silver Dmitrijev, marked 7.75, 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A first appearance Nikita Baranov will want to forget — 5.65
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.65, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
Ken Dmitrijev 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joonas 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Silver Dmitrijev scored, was marked 7.74, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.33 — 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Brent Zenjov has his answer from Levadia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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; Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Brandon Milne is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 behind and going nowhere, until Mihkel Dmitrijev decided otherwise. Tammeka had done the hard part and then watched it come apart, and the noise at the final whistle was the sort a ground keeps.
Two goals and a mark of 8.42 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Anton Tsarenko 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.
Tammeka made Levadia work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑3 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sotiris Kontouris 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Brent Zenjov 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.
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 8 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces3 Apr 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 33 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Anton Tsarenko 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sotiris Kontouris 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“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 Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Levadia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Tsarenko 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 words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Sotiris Kontouris is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Ken Dmitrijev 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.
Nomme Kalju paid $330.0K and Levadia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
“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 Levadia, and 5 appearances in 31 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Brent 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flora can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMihkel Ainsalu falls out with a teammate over standards
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.97 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Levadia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Valeri Shantenkov from Narva Trans for $110.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
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.
Brent 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.86 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ken Dmitrijev 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.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Sergey Bulynenok has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Levadia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ken Dmitrijev and Levadia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Granlund 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.
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.
“I watch every Levadia game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Flora runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Flora lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Brent Zenjov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99
A mark of 7.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Taijo Teniste 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.
Marked 8.84 — 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.
At 21 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.
Jere Koponen damages knee ligaments — 100 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Taijo Teniste 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.
Marked 8.30 — 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.
“I watch every Flora game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Narva Trans runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Flora lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Levadia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Erik Granlund 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.
Vlasi Hein 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Levadia, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mihkel Puri will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Levadia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mihkel Puri 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Levadia training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flora can pretend not to have heard.
Taaniel Usta 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.
The phone has started ringing about Ilja Antonov again, and this time the name on the line is Nomme Kalju. Flora are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Taijo Teniste 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.
11 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Sander Kruglov has left for Tulevik in a $11.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Baranov 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.