“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 Persebaya know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Koko Araya has come out of that comparison in the side, and Persebaya have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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.
“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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Randy May'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.
Jefferson 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 Oct 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfeandra Dewangga 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.
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 Mihailo Perović is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Persebaya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Persebaya know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
“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 Persebaya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 4 on 63 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
“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; Persebaya are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑0 win over Maluku Utara United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Miguel Pereira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.51. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Francisco Rivera.
1‑5 to Persib, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
6 goals in one match, Dimitar Mitkov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Persebaya and Persib.
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at Persebaya and a proper look at me.” He remains Persib’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
The first defeat in 11 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against PSIM; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Jefferson 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Ernando Ari
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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 Mihailo Perović is on it.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Dimitar Mitkov scored in the 85th minute, Persita had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Persebaya took the lot.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persebaya can pretend not to have heard.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7.86, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Persebaya had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alfeandra Dewangga 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persebaya can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persebaya have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Persebaya can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Ernando Ari 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 Jefferson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“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 Persebaya, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dimitar Mitkov provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jefferson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Ernando Ari
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Bagas Supriadi, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Persebaya can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Vukašin Vraneš 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.
Marked 9.52 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dimitar Mitkov. 3‑1 against Madura United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfeandra Dewangga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Bagas Supriadi, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Something was said to Rachmat Irianto and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The offer from Persijap for Toni Firmansyah 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Persebaya can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jefferson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Matías Ocampo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.38. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Miguel Pereira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.28. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Persib continues; the message travels home.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persebaya can pretend not to have heard.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Persebaya are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jefferson 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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 Mihailo Perović is on it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dimitar Mitkov provided it, and the 8.72 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.27 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 goals in one match, Dimitar Mitkov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Persebaya and Borneo.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arema have kept their man, and Persebaya go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persebaya have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Persis have accepted the money. What Persebaya do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Persebaya, and it is not being withdrawn.
The fee is $430.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Persis drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Persebaya can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Ernando Ari 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 Jun 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jefferson 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Jefferson 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alfeandra Dewangga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Bagas Supriadi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persebaya can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Risto Mitrevski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jefferson 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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; Persebaya are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya 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 Jefferson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Francisco Rivera. 2‑0 against Persik, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“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; Persebaya are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya 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 Jefferson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Francisco Rivera’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Persebaya needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 Persebaya know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Persebaya did not have in the autumn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jefferson 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miloš Raičković 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Dimitar Mitkov in the middle of it, and Bali United unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Bagas Supriadi, on a 4‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Jefferson 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arief Catur was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Feb 2027
6 new faces, and Persebaya 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bagas Supriadi on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persebaya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Persebaya asked and Persis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arief Catur was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Persebaya have made the call to Feyenoord. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
“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 Persebaya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Persib have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gustavo Fernandes. The answer from Persebaya has not changed — yet.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Persebaya know which stage they are at.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Persebaya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arief Catur 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Madura United can pretend not to have heard.
Jordy Wehrmann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
197% of the income goes out in wages at Madura United
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Madura United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruxi 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 Madura United, 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 Madura United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Madura United know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutTaufik Hidayat asks for a word with the manager
“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; Madura United are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Kerim Palić 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dimitar Mitkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Madura United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jordy Wehrmann 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Madura United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruxi 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ardi Idrus
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Madura United 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 Taufik Hidayat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Madura United could ask drops and the wages Dimitar Mitkov can ask rise.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Madura United can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Madura United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kerim Palić 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
229% of the income goes out in wages at Madura United
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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ruxi has come out of that comparison in the side, and Madura United have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Novan Sasongko has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Madura United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Júnior Brandão signs something — a contract at Madura United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Madura United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Madura United is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Madura United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruxi 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Madura United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Madura United can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad12 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Madura United 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Semen Padang in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dimitar Mitkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Madura United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jordy Wehrmann 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stefano Putra after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Madura United 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.
Kerim Palić 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruxi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Madura United 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Borneo in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Madura United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Yuda Editya had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Madura United can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Madura United can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at PSV is saying, and nobody at Madura United is enjoying the guessing.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Toni Firmansyah did not need any: 8.06, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AZ is saying, and nobody at Persebaya is enjoying the guessing.
The fee is $310.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Persib drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Madura United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Madura United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruxi 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stefano Putra after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Madura United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
Everything was agreed with Utrecht and then the doctor spoke. Madura United 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 offer from PSBS Biak for Ilhamsyah 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.
Jordy Wehrmann 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.
Madura United asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Syahrian Jaya 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stefano Lilipaly 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.
In brief
Player ratingsThe game went through Kerim Palić — 6.90