Marked for Dimitar Mitkov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
9 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
There were 9 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
26 days out for Paulo Sitanggang after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Madura United will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Yuda Editya
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yuda Editya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Madura United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Júnior Brandão 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Persija left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Jordy Wehrmann
“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 Feb 2027
Ruxi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Ardi Idrus 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Ahmad Pratama 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Ardi Idrus gets it from the manager
“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 dugout21 Dec 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Miswar Saputra has written the date down.
Market21 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dimitar Mitkov signs something — a contract at Madura United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Madura United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dimitar Mitkov and Madura United agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ardi Idrus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Felix Goddard, and the manager let it.
Market7 Dec 2026
Riquelme linked with a move away
The name of Riquelme keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Madura United say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Paulo Sitanggang out for 110 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Madura United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 255% of everything Madura United earn
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ardi Idrus falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Nur Diansyah gets it from the manager
“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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Dimitar Mitkov 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 Madura United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market30 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Ahmad Noviandani has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Madura United will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market30 Nov 2026
The clock does Dimitar Mitkov’s negotiating for him
1 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ardi Idrus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Dimitar Mitkov 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Taufik Hidayat has written the date down.
Squad23 Nov 2026
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Madura United the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Questions about Giovani Numberi on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Madura United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The Madura United board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 255% of the Madura United income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ahmad Pratama and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nur Diansyah, and the manager let it.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
Market2 Nov 2026
Madura United have made Kerim Palić available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market2 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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 Ahmad Noviandani is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Dimitar Mitkov
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ardi Idrus 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ahmad Pratama 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Madura United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mattia Ciancaglini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Syahrian Pratama has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Irfan Nugroho has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dimitar Mitkov, and the manager let it.
Market12 Oct 2026
Riquelme linked with a move away
The name of Riquelme keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Madura United say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Ardi Idrus 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 Ardi Idrus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Felix Goddard has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Madura United will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Taufik Hidayat has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Madura United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 377% of everything Madura United earn
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mattia Ciancaglini is the division's best young player this month
At 19 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Madura United will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Rizky Santoso, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Vava Mario Yagalo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Dimitar Mitkov 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“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
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Madura United's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Madura United has to find a result from somewhere.
Market28 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Dimitar Mitkov
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Madura United can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Júnior Brandão 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Madura United
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.52 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Madura United had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 17 signed and 5 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Madura United
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Madura United are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Madura United
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Bagus Putra to a room that had heard them before.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ardi Idrus 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 Sep 2026
Ahmad Pratama and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Dimitar Mitkov
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Madura United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer from PSIM 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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Júnior Brandão 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Borneo left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Jordy Wehrmann
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Madura United are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from Maluku Utara United for Nur Diansyah 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Almagro, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Ilhamsyah again, and this time the name on the line is PSIM. Madura United are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dimitar Mitkov. 1‑0 against Maluku Utara United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A mark of 7.88, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ardi Idrus 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.