18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atromitos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Atromitos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kavala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nestos Chrysoupoli waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kavala is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Everything agreed with Atromitos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kavala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikos Spyrakos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Everybody at Kavala saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 24 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miguel Clavería will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kavala the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.39 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Taxiarchis Filon 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Kavala and PAOK B in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kavala can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kavala people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with AEK 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.
4 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.
Aarón Rey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jan 2033
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Spyrakos 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.
Kavala asked and Panathinaikos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad10 Jan 2033
A last season at home is what Ahmed Rabie is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atromitos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Makedonikos spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Timon Railić has, at Atromitos, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
“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 Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Elián Sosa 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustaf Bruzelius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chibuike Emmanuel and Atromitos agree another 3 years.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atromitos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Atromitos can tell you which week it ends in.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Albert 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.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Angelos Liasos
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Rubio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atromitos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dejvid Hoxha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atromitos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atromitos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 23 arrived, 31 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
The offer went to Panathinaikos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atromitos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer went to Panionios this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Tomás Rubio again, and this time the name on the line is PAS Giannina. Atromitos are listening politely and promising nothing.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutDejvid Hoxha knocks on the manager's door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Atromitos and Niki Volos have settled on $310.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Atromitos offered $1.3M; Kalamata said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atromitos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Dejvid Hoxha again, and this time the name on the line is Panionios. Atromitos are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer went to Panionios this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Atromitos asked and Kalamata said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dimitris Kaloskamis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2032
José Albert 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 133 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atromitos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
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.
The deal with PAOK 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.
Aarón Rey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Words at Kavala training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikos Spyrakos 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kavala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kostas Thymianis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Albert 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Atromitos could ask drops and the wages Lazar Kojić can ask rise.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atromitos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Atromitos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kostas Thymianis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atromitos people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atromitos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom2 Feb 2032
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Atromitos until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Dincă will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atromitos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.39 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
1 for Lazar Kojić, marked 7.75, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Kostas Thymianis 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: PAS Giannina have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Tomás Rubio. The answer from Atromitos has not changed — yet.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Elián Sosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kostas Thymianis 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atromitos, another week without a signature from Lazar Kojić.
The name of Dejvid Hoxha has come up in conversations Atromitos were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olympiacos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Elián Sosa 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.
The offer went to Panargiakos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“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 Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Atromitos and Asteras have settled on $110.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atromitos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PAOK have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nikos Tsadjaris 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ioannis Torosidis 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Rubio 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Angelos Liasos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Tomás Rubio
“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 Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from OFI for Dejvid Hoxha was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guilherme Paula will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atromitos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything was agreed with Kalamata and then the doctor spoke. Atromitos have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Sandi Nuhanović has agreed terms with Niki Volos for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Albers Keko has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Atromitos have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Atromitos asked and Marko said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Tomás Rubio again, and this time the name on the line is Egaleo. Atromitos are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer from AEK for Ahmed Touba was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hellas Syros waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with Kalamata 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.
Elián Sosa 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.
Niki Volos paid $430.0K and Atromitos took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad16 Jun 2031
6 new faces, and Atromitos are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The phone has started ringing about Dejvid Hoxha again, and this time the name on the line is OFI. Atromitos are listening politely and promising nothing.
Elián Sosa 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.
$230.0K was the most the club would pay and Panetolikos were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
PAS Giannina will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Alexis Golfinos has pre-agreed a move to Atromitos, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
16 appearances and 5 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ilian Ounissi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Atromitos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.