The Van Post
Squad18 Sep 2028
Henrikh Khachatryan keeps Van in it on his own
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 21 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad18 Sep 2028
The knee: Luca Caldirola out for 14 days
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Van lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Van
Obi Chima 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Van training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Erik Simonyan 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.
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
Wages eat 92% of everything Van 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.
Market18 Sep 2028
Van buy the years ahead of Zhaviah Campbell
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market18 Sep 2028
Van sign Cian Powney-Wain, one for the future
Cian Powney-Wain is 20, and Van have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market18 Sep 2028
Experience through the door at Van
Shamil Gasanov arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Market18 Sep 2028
Victor Lube brings the grey hairs Van lacked
At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
In brief
- The dugout Aleks Galstyan asks for a word with the manager
- Boardroom The Van academy earns its keep