Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CF Montreal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom30 Jul 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at CF Montreal
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CF Montreal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Yoel Marchi 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dagur Dan Þórhallsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CF Montreal asked and LA Galaxy said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.16, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason CF Montreal will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nashville SC waiting with a shirt. Nobody at CF Montreal is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.42 for the rest of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CF Montreal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Real Salt Lake pay $770.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
$64.0K on the table at Austin FC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CF Montreal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dagur Dan Þórhallsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
CF Montreal asked and Leon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.93, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad16 Jul 2035
6 new faces, and CF Montreal are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CF Montreal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CF Montreal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nico Hansen 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dagur Dan Þórhallsson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CF Montreal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at CF Montreal
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at CF Montreal is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Colin Guske was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every CF Montreal game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Portland Timbers runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 8.01 — 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.
Position 7, 19 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“I watch every CF Montreal game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at New York Red Bulls runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.