Marked for Nir David
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Oct 2035
The knee: Ofek Melika out for 28 days
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bnei Yehuda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Almog Shechter 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.
Squad15 Oct 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nir David and Bnei Yehuda agree another 3 years.
Market15 Oct 2035
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Boardroom15 Oct 2035
The numbers do not look good at Bnei Yehuda
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
The manager makes an example of Omer Nir'on
“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.
Squad15 Oct 2035
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Looking ahead15 Oct 2035
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Maccabi Petach Tikva in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Oct 2035
Chastening afternoon for Bnei Yehuda
A 0‑4 beating by Maccabi Tel Aviv was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match6 Oct 2035
4 matches without a win for Bnei Yehuda
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Bnei Yehuda are no longer polite ones.
Squad8 Oct 2035
André Leipold and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Oct 2035
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Words at Bnei Yehuda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentino Álvarez 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 dugout8 Oct 2035
“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.
Boardroom8 Oct 2035
Nobody left the Bnei Yehuda dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Market8 Oct 2035
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Sep 2034
29 matches without a win for Hapoel Raanana
The run now stands at 29, and the questions being asked around Hapoel Raanana are no longer polite ones.
Match27 Sep 2034
Out, 1‑4 to Hapoel Beer Sheva, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad2 Oct 2034
42 days out for Tarek Boshnak after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hapoel Raanana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces2 Oct 2034
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Market2 Oct 2034
Nir David 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 Hapoel Raanana can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Oct 2034
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yoyo Aviv and Hapoel Raanana agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Oct 2034
Kaick 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 Hapoel Raanana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Oct 2034
Words at Hapoel Raanana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aviv Lin 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.
Match30 Sep 2034
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Sep 2034
25 matches without a win for Hapoel Raanana
The run now stands at 25, and the questions being asked around Hapoel Raanana are no longer polite ones.
Squad4 Sep 2034
70 days out for Tarek Boshnak after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hapoel Raanana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market4 Sep 2034
Nir David puts it in writing
“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 Hapoel Raanana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Sep 2034
Paz Blander: 10 seasons and counting
340 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Hapoel Raanana know exactly what they have.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2034
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Hapoel Tel Aviv; Hapoel Raanana go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Boardroom4 Sep 2034
Window shuts: 15 in, 15 out at Hapoel Raanana
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 15 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad4 Sep 2034
Yoyo Aviv 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 Hapoel Raanana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Sep 2034
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom4 Sep 2034
Still no name above the door at Hapoel Raanana
Day 12 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2034
Position 13, 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.
Squad7 Aug 2034
98 days out for Tarek Boshnak after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hapoel Raanana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom7 Aug 2034
Interim Coach has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hapoel Raanana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom7 Aug 2034
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.
Market7 Aug 2034
“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.
Squad7 Aug 2034
346 appearances across 9 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Hapoel Raanana know what they have.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2034
No thanks: Kaick rejects the move
Hapoel Raanana had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad7 Aug 2034
Wang Gengrui 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 Aug 2034
Words at Hapoel Raanana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seif Darwish 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
Crisis
Market26 Jun 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Raanana can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2034
Everything agreed with Maccabi Haifa, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2034
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Maccabi Haifa keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad26 Jun 2034
Leonardo Forti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2034
Words at Hapoel Raanana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Seif Darwish 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2034
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.
The dugout26 Jun 2034
Amit Glazer is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout26 Jun 2034
Lior Levy 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 Hapoel Raanana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Jun 2034
No hiding place for Nir David
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nir David, and the manager let it.