Marked for Brandon Wright
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Aaron Morris clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Match3 Mar 2029
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sporting Kansas City has to find a result from somewhere.
Market5 Mar 2029
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Justin Reynolds had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Transfer targets5 Mar 2029
The deal with Colorado Rapids is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Emir Karić commits to Sporting Kansas City for another 3 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Shapi Suleymanov 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Sporting Kansas City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
André Luiz 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A muscle injury and 15 days out for Cielo Tschantret
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Sporting Kansas City will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jacob Bartlett, and the manager let it.
Market24 Jan 2028
The Emir Karić talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sporting Kansas City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Wyatt Meyer has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sporting Kansas City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Kwaku Agyabeng knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kwaku Agyabeng trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jan 2028
Diego Fagúndez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Sporting Kansas City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Luiz 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sporting Kansas City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Jansen Miller asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.