Marked for Lars Meyer
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2037
Philipp Müller damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match29 Aug 2037
Köln throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with VfL Wolfsburg the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Köln will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings31 Aug 2037
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.74, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings31 Aug 2037
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Köln this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2037
No end in sight to Köln's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Köln has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 Aug 2037
Leonardo Ferreira is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market31 Aug 2037
Lars Meyer has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Köln they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Aug 2037
Rav van den Berg 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2037
Philipp Müller damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market24 Aug 2037
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Köln they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Aug 2037
Tempers go at Köln
Saïd El Mala 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.
Market24 Aug 2037
“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 Köln, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom24 Aug 2037
Graduation day at Köln
10 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad24 Aug 2037
Yannick Dodo 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Aug 2037
Philipp Müller damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad10 Aug 2037
Tempers go at Köln
Jakub Kamiński 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.
Market10 Aug 2037
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Köln is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market10 Aug 2037
Heidenheim come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Köln did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Aug 2037
Words at Köln training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rav van den Berg 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.
Squad10 Aug 2037
40 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2037
Philipp Müller damages knee ligaments — 59 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 59 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad3 Aug 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Köln this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2037
“The easiest signature of my career.” Muhammed Damar and Köln agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Jul 2037
Philipp Müller damages knee ligaments — 66 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 66 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market27 Jul 2037
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Köln is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Jul 2037
Tempers go at Köln
Jakub Kamiński 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.
Market27 Jul 2037
Lars Meyer hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Köln can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Jul 2037
Words at Köln training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rav van den Berg 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.
Squad27 Jul 2037
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Brandon Austin and Köln agree another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Jul 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Philipp Müller
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Köln lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad13 Jul 2037
Tempers go at Köln
Jakub Kamiński 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.
Market13 Jul 2037
Only the photograph left for Elijah Scott
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Elijah Scott will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Köln the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market13 Jul 2037
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Köln heard it as anything else.
Market13 Jul 2037
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad13 Jul 2037
Yannick Dodo 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Jul 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Philipp Müller
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Köln lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad6 Jul 2037
425 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Market6 Jul 2037
Jakub Kamiński wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Köln hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad6 Jul 2037
Saïd El Mala in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Köln this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Jul 2037
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lewi Richards and Köln agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market6 Jul 2037
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Köln is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jun 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Philipp Müller
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Köln lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market29 Jun 2037
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market29 Jun 2037
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Köln they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Jun 2037
Tempers go at Köln
Jakub Kamiński 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.
Squad29 Jun 2037
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Leonardo Ferreira is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad29 Jun 2037
Words at Köln training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rav van den Berg 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jun 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Philipp Müller
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Köln lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market22 Jun 2037
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Jun 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Köln this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Jun 2037
Only the photograph left for Daniel Bunk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Bunk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Köln the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Jun 2037
Words at Köln training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yannick Dodo 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.
Squad22 Jun 2037
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Romelu Castagne and Köln agree another 5 years.