Marked for Patrick Lindner
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Mar 2035
Every point is an argument now for Neuchâtel Xamax
Position 11 and 13 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 Mar 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 The request is on a desk at Neuchâtel Xamax, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Mar 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neuchâtel Xamax this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Mar 2035
Words at Neuchâtel Xamax training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josué Reinatti 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 dugout19 Mar 2035
Joaquim 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 Joaquim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout19 Mar 2035
“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.
Market19 Mar 2035
Still no signature from Luca Pausé
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Neuchâtel Xamax could get for him.
Squad19 Mar 2035
Bilal Bayazıt has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The dugout19 Mar 2035
The manager makes Luca Pausé a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Neuchâtel Xamax. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Feb 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.
Market26 Feb 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Radek Ondroušek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neuchâtel Xamax the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Luke Fahrenhorst 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.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Josué Reinatti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
The manager makes an example of Joaquim
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2035
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Íñigo Arguibide, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 Feb 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 Neuchâtel Xamax know it.
Market26 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 dugout26 Feb 2035
Tomáš Nemčík 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 Tomáš Nemčík trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Dec 2034
Position 11, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad25 Dec 2034
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market25 Dec 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 Neuchâtel Xamax, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom25 Dec 2034
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Luca Pausé has agreed terms with Lugano for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad25 Dec 2034
Luke Fahrenhorst 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.
Match23 Dec 2034
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad25 Dec 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Okafor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Dec 2034
The manager makes an example of Joaquim
“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.
Match23 Dec 2034
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nadir Zortea did the work nobody counts — 6.94
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Simon Okafor knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Oct 2034
16 days out for Mario Embolo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Neuchâtel Xamax will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Neuchâtel Xamax may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Tomáš Nemčík 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.
Squad23 Oct 2034
A move Patrick Lindner 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. Patrick Lindner is living that version at Neuchâtel Xamax, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Okafor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Oct 2034
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
No hiding place for Joaquim
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joaquim, and the manager let it.
Market23 Oct 2034
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Neuchâtel Xamax, another week without a signature from Luke Fahrenhorst.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.