The Köln Sentinel
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the Köln board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
No thanks: Devin Haen rejects the move
Köln had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Willem II, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Door shut on Jovon Makama
Köln asked and Norwich City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market19 Jul 2027
Gabriel Otto steps up from the Köln academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gabriel Otto has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market19 Jul 2027
Köln promote Jonas Schröder from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jonas Schröder has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market19 Jul 2027
One of our own: Matthias Groß joins the Köln first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matthias Groß is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market19 Jul 2027
Köln promote Florian Schuster from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Florian Schuster has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Elias Bakatukanda
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Köln will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Ísak Jóhannesson gets it from the manager
“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.
In brief
- Squad A falling-out at Köln
- Squad Köln are still strangers to each other
- Loan watch Paul Okon-Engstler counts the days