The Madura United Post
Squad15 Mar 2038
Phila Dlamini breaks a bone — 14 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Mar 2038
Words at Madura United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrohimjon To'raqulov 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.
Boardroom15 Mar 2038
No signings allowed at Madura United
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Player ratings15 Mar 2038
Siyabonga Mbongo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.33. 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.
Boardroom15 Mar 2038
The Madura United debt reaches $23.9M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad15 Mar 2038
Tempers go at Madura United
Azizbek Rahimjonov 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.
Match13 Mar 2038
Madura United share the spoils with Persik
A 1‑1 draw with Persik leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad15 Mar 2038
When it matters, Lazarazu Otieno plays
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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2038
Nobody could get near Ricky Saddil
Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
- Market Madura United and Bambang Putra are talking past each other
- Market The shop window has Talgat Logvinenko in it
- The terraces The press have found their man in Siyabonga Mbongo