Marked for Gabriel Serrano
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Feb 2029
Marko refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 33 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Marko
Alexander Johansson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Marko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonny Arriba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“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.
Market26 Feb 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Marko know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Marko, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Marko would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market26 Feb 2029
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Marko money.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Matan Ambar is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Marko
Alexander Johansson 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Taha Ali 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.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Aris Thessaloniki have kept their man, and Marko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
“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.
Market12 Feb 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Marko know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
Timon Railić 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 Timon Railić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Taha Ali arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
Squad12 Feb 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Marko would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market12 Feb 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Feb 2029
Terms done: Henry King is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Panargiakos waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Marko is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market5 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Marko is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Marko have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Window shuts: 3 in, 3 out at Marko
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at Marko
Alexander Johansson 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Marko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taha Ali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Egaleo have kept their man, and Marko go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch5 Feb 2029
“I watch every Marko game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AEK runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.