Marked for Lassi Kamara
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Aug 2036
87 days out for Hensen Anponsa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haka will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Aug 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haka can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout25 Aug 2036
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Haka have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market25 Aug 2036
Tamkin Ozobic has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Words exchanged at Haka
Leshano Simons 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.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaakko Moisio 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.
Market25 Aug 2036
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Haka, another week without a signature from Arseniy Bondarchuk.
The dugout25 Aug 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rami Ait Bahaouidder, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Amos Toivio wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Haka will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Aug 2036
94 days out for Hensen Anponsa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haka will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 Aug 2036
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Haka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout18 Aug 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Haka may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market18 Aug 2036
Lassi Kamara 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 Haka can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Aug 2036
Lassi Kamara has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom18 Aug 2036
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 14 gone
That is the business done at Haka 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.
Market18 Aug 2036
So close: Alex Ramula’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. FC Lahti moved on, Alex Ramula reports back to Haka, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad18 Aug 2036
A falling-out at Haka
Leshano Simons and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom18 Aug 2036
Belts tighten at Haka
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad21 Jul 2036
122 days out for Hensen Anponsa after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Haka will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market21 Jul 2036
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Haka have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match19 Jul 2036
Haka make it 5 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Haka have 5 straight wins of it.
Market21 Jul 2036
Lassi Kamara 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 Haka can pretend not to have heard.
Market21 Jul 2036
Lassi Kamara has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2036
The deal with HJK 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.
Squad21 Jul 2036
A falling-out at Haka
Leshano Simons and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Jul 2036
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Haka. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Boardroom21 Jul 2036
Belts tighten at Haka
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Jun 2036
Haka refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 21 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.
Market23 Jun 2036
Lassi Kamara 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 Haka can pretend not to have heard.
Market23 Jun 2036
Lassi Kamara has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Jun 2036
A falling-out at Haka
Leshano Simons and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom23 Jun 2036
The numbers do not look good at Haka
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.
Squad23 Jun 2036
“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 Haka know it.
Match21 Jun 2036
JIPPO take the points off Haka
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Jun 2036
The manager makes an example of Simon Lleshi
“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.
Squad23 Jun 2036
A row about effort at Haka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaakko Moisio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Haka dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
Hassan Saeed answers for it
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The dugout
Admir Kobel left out for tactical reasons at Haka
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 May 2036
SalPa punish Haka for switching off
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Elion Imeri will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Haka escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Squad26 May 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market26 May 2036
“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 Haka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 May 2036
Only the photograph left for Lassi Kamara
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lassi Kamara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 May 2036
Words exchanged at Haka
Leshano Simons 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.
Boardroom26 May 2036
Haka counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Haka now.
Squad26 May 2036
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rasmus Harjanne 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.
Looking ahead26 May 2036
Top-of-the-table clash for Haka
FF Jaro next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
The dugout26 May 2036
The manager makes an example of Amos Toivio
“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
Squad28 Apr 2036
Eemeli Honkola damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom28 Apr 2036
Haka counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Haka now.
Market28 Apr 2036
Lassi Kamara 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 Haka can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Apr 2036
Lassi Kamara has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Apr 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Apr 2036
Sabur Ali runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Robert Adokwe gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Robert Adokwe has just signed for Haka, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom28 Apr 2036
The target is the manager, the approach is real, and the compensation clause is the whole conversation. Clubs deny this kind of story right up until the photograph.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Home is on Bruninho's mind
“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; Haka are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Mar 2036
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Haka lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market31 Mar 2036
Alex Ramula 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 Haka can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom31 Mar 2036
Belts tighten at Haka
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Market31 Mar 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Haka is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets31 Mar 2036
Haka offered $370.0K; Ekenäs IF 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.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Tempers go at Haka
Elion Imeri 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.
Transfer targets31 Mar 2036
Haka asked and HJK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Haka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaakko Moisio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Everybody at Haka saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Mar 2036
A knee injury of the worst kind for Emil Leveälahti
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Haka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market3 Mar 2036
Alex Ramula 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 Haka can pretend not to have heard.
Market3 Mar 2036
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Haka have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom3 Mar 2036
Haka counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Haka now.
Market3 Mar 2036
Lassi Kamara has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Mar 2036
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Transfer targets3 Mar 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HJK have kept their man, and Haka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Mar 2036
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaakko Moisio 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.
Squad3 Mar 2036
Tempers go at Haka
Kristiyan Nikiforov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Feb 2036
A knee injury of the worst kind for Emil Leveälahti
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Haka lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market18 Feb 2036
“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.
Market18 Feb 2036
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Haka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market18 Feb 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Haka is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Feb 2036
A falling-out at Haka
Elion Imeri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2036
Haka asked and HJK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaakko Moisio 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.
Market18 Feb 2036
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Haka could get for him.
The dugout18 Feb 2036
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Olle Leonardsson is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Feb 2036
Emil Leveälahti damages knee ligaments — 53 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 53 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market11 Feb 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Haka can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Feb 2036
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Haka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets11 Feb 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HJK have kept their man, and Haka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaakko Moisio 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.
Squad11 Feb 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Feb 2036
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Haka, another week without a signature from Emil Leveälahti.
Transfer targets11 Feb 2036
A loan move for Niilo Kujasalo is in the works
Haka have made the call to Krasnodar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets11 Feb 2036
HJK have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
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.
Market4 Feb 2036
“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 Haka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Feb 2036
Only the photograph left for Lassi Kamara
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lassi Kamara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Feb 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Haka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emil Leveälahti 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 dugout4 Feb 2036
The manager's exit leaves Marius Söderbäck exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Marius Söderbäck is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market4 Feb 2036
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Haka will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
Nobody arrives at Haka until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Haka this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Market4 Feb 2036
“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
Market7 Jan 2036
“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 Haka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market7 Jan 2036
Only the photograph left for Lassi Kamara
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lassi Kamara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Jaakko Moisio 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.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Words exchanged at Haka
Afeez Bankole 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.
Market7 Jan 2036
Riku Lod steps up from the Haka academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Riku Lod 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.
Market7 Jan 2036
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Amos Kamara 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.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Everybody at Haka saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 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.
Boardroom7 Jan 2036
Nobody arrives at Haka until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Haka this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Eeli Kinnunen slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Eeli Kinnunen is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Dec 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 Haka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Dec 2035
Only the photograph left for Lassi Kamara
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lassi Kamara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Jaakko Moisio 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.
Squad10 Dec 2035
A falling-out at Haka
Arttu Tulehmo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Dec 2035
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom10 Dec 2035
Nobody arrives at Haka until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Haka this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The dugout10 Dec 2035
Eemeli Honkola 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 Haka, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout10 Dec 2035
David Hubocan 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.
Market10 Dec 2035
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alex Ramula’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Nov 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.
Market12 Nov 2035
Only the photograph left for Lassi Kamara
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lassi Kamara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Nov 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 Haka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Nov 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Roberto Salvatore and Haka agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Haka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Emil Leveälahti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Nov 2035
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Matti Huuhka, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom12 Nov 2035
Haka have to sell first
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
Market12 Nov 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 dugout12 Nov 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emil Leveälahti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Oct 2035
Lassi Kamara has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Haka they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words exchanged at Haka
Jaakko Moisio 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.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emil Leveälahti 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 dugout1 Oct 2035
The manager makes an example of Eemeli Honkola
“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.
The dugout1 Oct 2035
Bruninho asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2035
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 Haka would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Sep 2035
Amos Toivio gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Amos Toivio has just signed for Haka, and for once the answer mattered.
Market3 Sep 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.
Match1 Sep 2035
The wait goes on for Haka
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.
Match1 Sep 2035
The goals have deserted Haka
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Haka can tell you which week it ends in.
Market3 Sep 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Haka is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Sep 2035
Elion Imeri 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 Haka this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom3 Sep 2035
KuPS will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Mads Bo Ottesen has pre-agreed a move to Haka, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad3 Sep 2035
A row about effort at Haka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaakko Moisio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Sep 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elion Imeri, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Aug 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Haka have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match25 Aug 2035
The wait goes on for Haka
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.
Match25 Aug 2035
The goals have deserted Haka
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Haka can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad27 Aug 2035
A falling-out at Haka
Elion Imeri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HJK have kept their man, and Haka go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad27 Aug 2035
A row about effort at Haka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaakko Moisio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match25 Aug 2035
Haka come up short against TPS
TPS left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout27 Aug 2035
The manager makes an example of Alex Ramula
“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.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2035
The clock did what PK-35 would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets13 Aug 2035
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Haka have done the hard part with HJK, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Jaakko Moisio 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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words exchanged at Haka
Afeez Bankole 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 dugout13 Aug 2035
No hiding place for Bruninho
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruninho, and the manager let it.
Market13 Aug 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Haka, another week without a signature from Emil Leveälahti.
The dugout13 Aug 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Jaakko Moisio's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2035
A loan enquiry to HJK: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
Marked 7.42 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Haka had the best player on the pitch.
Market13 Aug 2035
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Max Bjurstrøm has his answer from Haka; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Aug 2035
Cup progress for Haka
A 2‑1 win over AC Oulu, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match1 Aug 2035
Denis Nemec wins it after the whistle should have gone
122 minutes played. Denis Nemec found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and AC Oulu went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings6 Aug 2035
Denis Nemec, 21, steals the show — 7.72
Marked 7.72 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market6 Aug 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.
The dugout6 Aug 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Haka may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market6 Aug 2035
Only the photograph left for Lassi Kamara
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lassi Kamara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Haka the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2035
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Haka have done the hard part with KuPS, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad6 Aug 2035
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Elion Imeri commits to Haka for another 3 years.
Squad6 Aug 2035
A row about effort at Haka
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaakko Moisio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Jul 2035
A hiding for Haka
Beaten 0‑3 by HJK, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market30 Jul 2035
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Haka people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market30 Jul 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 Haka, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match28 Jul 2035
The wait goes on for Haka
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.
The dugout30 Jul 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Haka may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Words exchanged at Haka
Jaakko Moisio 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.
Squad30 Jul 2035
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Verneri Vainikainen is living that version at Haka, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Words at Haka training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emil Leveälahti 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 dugout30 Jul 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.
In brief
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Looking ahead
A six-pointer for Haka
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Haka
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The dugout
Interim Coach: “No excuses”