The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting Kansas City 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 Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Sporting Kansas City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting Kansas City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Or Blorian 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 had been thinking. Diego Barros 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sporting Kansas City has been clear about where Sean Musah stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jordan Weah will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting Kansas City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Kansas City can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Steffen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting Kansas City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Day 39 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Oct 2039
Diego Barros 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sporting Kansas City has been clear about where Justin Wright stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sporting Kansas City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jordan Bradley will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting Kansas City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Position 14, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Player ratings22 Aug 2039
A brace, and Alex Steffen takes the afternoon — 8.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alex Steffen provided it, and the 8.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting Kansas City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Zavier Gozo 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 had been thinking. Diego Barros 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 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alex Steffen 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Steffen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting Kansas City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zavier Gozo 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 had been thinking. Diego Barros 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 easiest signature of my career.” Justin Wright and Sporting Kansas City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
7 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Kansas City can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paul Morris will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting Kansas City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Jun 2039
Diego Barros 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Diego Barros has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.