“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 19 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Paralimni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“I watch every Paralimni game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at APOEL runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
1 for Sean Ioannou, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brandon Molina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paralimni the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Brandon Molina has agreed terms with AEL for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edixon Mena 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.
“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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
10 new faces, and Paralimni 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Paralimni know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Ahmed Khaled, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni 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 Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Paralimni
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michalis Charalabous 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Antonis Nicolaou 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Marios Stylianou is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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 Paralimni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“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 Paralimni know it.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Paralimni is running low.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kyriakos Charalambous has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
293 appearances across 8 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michalis Charalabous and Paralimni agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Brandon Molina is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ezequiel Pacheco has just signed for Paralimni, and for once the answer mattered.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Klim Zvonarev is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
In brief
SquadWords at Paralimni training over how hard people work
“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 Paralimni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Markus Kuster 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Emmanuel Okeke signs something — a contract at Paralimni or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Kuster 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.
“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 Paralimni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Spyros Risvanis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Kuster 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emanuel Šakić 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni can pretend not to have heard.
The fee is $730.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. AE Kition drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Alpha Diounkou from Omonoia for $1.5M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Emanuel Šakić 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Paralimni can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“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 Paralimni, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michalis Charalabous 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 squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Spyros Risvanis is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Élan Ricardo 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kyriakos Charalambous has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Élan Ricardo 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.
“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 Paralimni know 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 Paralimni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Élan Ricardo 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni 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 Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMarkus Kuster falls out with a teammate over standards
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Paralimni is running low.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni can pretend not to have heard.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Élan Ricardo 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Paralimni training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni 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 Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Markus Kuster 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.
“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; Paralimni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kyriakos Charalambous has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Paralimni training over how hard people work
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Élan Ricardo 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.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and Paralimni are still learning each other
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Élan Ricardo 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Paralimni has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni can pretend not to have heard.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Élan Ricardo 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 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 Paralimni know it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Motorzinho is living that version at Paralimni, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Élan Ricardo 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.
Marked 5.54. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Élan Ricardo 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 words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Paralimni can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Two goals and a mark of 9.37 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Anorthosis made Paralimni work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Élan Ricardo 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
The mood at Paralimni has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marko Simonovski provided it, and the 8.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Apollon held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Paralimni answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Three points for Paralimni, 3‑2 the final word against Ethnikos Achnas in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Élan Ricardo 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 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 Paralimni know it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Ahmed Khaled has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
14 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 terraces1 Nov 2027
The mood at Paralimni has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Paralimni can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Élan Ricardo 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.
12 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paralimni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Markus Kuster 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Markus Kuster trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Emanuel Šakić
0‑3 to Aris, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni can pretend not to have heard.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Élan Ricardo 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdulla Al-Hosani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paralimni the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Symeon Solomou is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Élan Ricardo 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.
“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; Paralimni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. İzzet Çelik has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paralimni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Paralimni moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Kyriakos Charalambous, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Élan Ricardo 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Fotis Pittas 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paralimni they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Symeon Solomou is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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 Paralimni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
“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 Paralimni know it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edixon Mena 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Paralimni has been clear about where Loizos Kosmas stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Paralimni will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Edixon Mena 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.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and Paralimni are still learning each other
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paralimni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Abdulla Al-Hosani has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Kuster 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Víctor Carbajal has just signed for Paralimni, and for once the answer mattered.
In brief
SquadMarkus Kuster falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Brandon Molina is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edixon Mena 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.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Panagiotis Panagiotou has his answer from Paralimni; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Paralimni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadEdixon Mena falls out with a teammate over standards
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Paralimni will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sean Ioannou 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Paralimni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad17 May 2027
Gustavo Pajé 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Spyros Risvanis was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Pajé 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.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Pajé 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Sean Ioannou 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.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Gal Kurež 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gal Kurež 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.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Gal Kurež 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.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Paralimni lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Gal Kurež 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 words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gal Kurež 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.
“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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Gal Kurež was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paralimni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Spyros Risvanis 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Gustavo Pajé has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sean Ioannou 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Gustavo Pajé was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Marko Simonovski had Paralimni level again within 1 minutes, and Doxa never got to play with a lead at all.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Agia Napa spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Salinas 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.
“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 Paralimni, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Gustavo Pajé 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Gal Kurež 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Paul Bashi will call it something else in private.
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Beaten 0‑3 by APOEL, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 29 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
Supporters turn on the $220.0K sale of Roman Lazăr
He is going to Nea Salamis, the club has $220.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Brandon Molina is living that version at Paralimni, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Gustavo Pajé had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Aris were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gustavo Pajé did not need any: 8.86, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
1 for Sean Ioannou, marked 7.87, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni can pretend not to have heard.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Gal Kurež 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.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Paralimni have had the benefit of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Paralimni 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 Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Salinas 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Paralimni, and 0 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.66 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Kuster 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.14 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Markus Kuster 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.
Gustavo Pajé, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.65
A mark of 8.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Kuster 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 pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Salinas 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.
Gustavo Pajé, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.13
A mark of 8.13 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.04 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Spyros Risvanis 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 Paralimni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Kuster 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marko Simonovski. 2‑1 against Omonoia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paralimni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Markus Kuster 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marko Simonovski. 2‑0 against Doxa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.33 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Spyros Risvanis 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Symeon Solomou. 3‑1 against Agia Napa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Gal Kurež 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Paralimni, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Symeon Solomou has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
3 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Agia Napa spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.