Marked for Thomas Andersen
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Aug 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match23 Aug 2036
Atle Wahlund wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Atle Wahlund found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Vejle went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings25 Aug 2036
Up for the corner, and Adam Claridge delivers — 7.90
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Adam Claridge scored, was marked 7.90, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The dugout25 Aug 2036
Thomas Andersen: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Fredericia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2036
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FC Fredericia have done the hard part with Brann, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2036
$160.0K on the table at FC Copenhagen. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Match23 Aug 2036
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Vejle. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2036
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Mar 2036
The knee: José Gamboa out for 82 days
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Fredericia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match17 Mar 2036
First, on 49 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Adam Claridge 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 dugout17 Mar 2036
The manager makes an example of Sven Bech
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market17 Mar 2036
Filip Slavata returns from a loan that taught him nothing
2 appearances and 0 clean sheets. A goalkeeper learns his job by playing it, and a season that gave him neither the games nor the shut-outs is a year taken off the front of a career.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Words at FC Fredericia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayoub Messaoui 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.
Loan watch17 Mar 2036
14 appearances at Hvidovre and the goals have stopped going in. FC Fredericia lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Market17 Mar 2036
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Thomas Andersen has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at FC Fredericia.
Market17 Mar 2036
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexander Lind’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market8 Oct 2035
Elton Musliu 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 FC Fredericia can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Oct 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FC Fredericia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Oct 2035
A move Sven Bech would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Sven Bech is living that version at FC Fredericia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Match6 Oct 2035
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation FC Fredericia did not have in the autumn.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Marco Andrea Tremolada and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Oct 2035
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Elton Musliu. 1‑0 against HB Køge, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match8 Oct 2035
Half the programme played, position 1, 26 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout8 Oct 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thomas Andersen, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Words at FC Fredericia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saro Loveday 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
Triumph
Market3 Sep 2035
“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 FC Fredericia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Sep 2035
16 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market3 Sep 2035
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around FC Fredericia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout3 Sep 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FC Fredericia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom3 Sep 2035
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $17.8K of what FC Fredericia paid for Kamaldeen Mensah is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
Market3 Sep 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kristian Marhaug will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FC Fredericia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom3 Sep 2035
FC Fredericia close the window on a squad of their own making
18 in and 20 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad3 Sep 2035
Adam Claridge 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.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2035
FC Fredericia asked and FC Midtjylland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces16 Jul 2035
The mood at FC Fredericia has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom16 Jul 2035
Pressure builds in the FC Fredericia boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market16 Jul 2035
“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.
Market16 Jul 2035
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Esbjerg had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market16 Jul 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FC Fredericia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2035
FC Fredericia have gone to SonderjyskE with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Adam Claridge and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Jon Prifti gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jon Prifti has just signed for FC Fredericia, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom16 Jul 2035
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 May 2035
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market14 May 2035
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FC Fredericia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market14 May 2035
“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 FC Fredericia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 May 2035
Adam Claridge 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.
Squad14 May 2035
Words at FC Fredericia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mads Søndergaard 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 dugout14 May 2035
The manager makes an example of Thomas Andersen
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market14 May 2035
“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.
The dugout14 May 2035
Simon Lleshi knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FC Fredericia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 May 2035
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Fredericia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 May 2035
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom7 May 2035
The FC Fredericia board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad7 May 2035
Mads Søndergaard 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.
Squad7 May 2035
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and FC Fredericia know it.
Market7 May 2035
“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.
Squad7 May 2035
Words at FC Fredericia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saro Loveday 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 dugout7 May 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristian Frau, and the manager let it.
Squad7 May 2035
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 May 2035
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Aksel Brekke Bruksås was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Feb 2035
Every point is an argument now for FC Fredericia
Position 12 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market19 Feb 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FC Fredericia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Adam Claridge 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.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Nordsjaelland have kept their man, and FC Fredericia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elton Musliu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. FC Fredericia will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad19 Feb 2035
“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; FC Fredericia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market19 Feb 2035
“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.
The dugout19 Feb 2035
The manager makes an example of Elias Mechrouh
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Jan 2035
Supporters organise against the FC Fredericia board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom29 Jan 2035
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at FC Fredericia is running low.
Market29 Jan 2035
The offer from Brondby for William Åkesson 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.
Market29 Jan 2035
“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 FC Fredericia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jan 2035
Simon Lleshi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2035
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.
Squad29 Jan 2035
Elton Musliu 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.
The dugout29 Jan 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Maehle, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2035
A loan enquiry to Zurich: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Oct 2034
“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 FC Fredericia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 Oct 2034
5 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.
Market9 Oct 2034
Jens Elbers has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FC Fredericia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom9 Oct 2034
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Jens Elbers has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Adam Claridge 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.
Boardroom9 Oct 2034
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Petar Andreev has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means FC Fredericia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad9 Oct 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Thomas Andersen commits to FC Fredericia for another 4 years.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Tiziano Vianello 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.
Match9 Oct 2034
Half the programme played, position 10, 8 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.