6 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.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
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 Hapoel Haifa, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Minute 88, against Hapoel Acre, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Willy Agada'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.
In brief
Squad6 new faces, and Hapoel Haifa are still learning each other
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Yoav Gerafi: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Haifa can pretend not to have heard.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Haifa 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 Hapoel Haifa 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 Sebastian Falcao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Matan Weissman left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Itay Buganim'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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maor Erlich has his answer from Hapoel Haifa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Yoav Gerafi 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 Sebastian Falcao was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Maccabi Netanya have kept their man, and Hapoel Haifa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
9 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.
“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 Hapoel Haifa will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Maccabi Netanya in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rotem Hatuel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Hapoel Haifa close the window on a squad of their own making
23 in and 9 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Maccabi Petach Tikva have kept their man, and Hapoel Haifa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastian Falcao 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.
Fausto San Pedro 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Hapoel Haifa will try again when the window opens; Hapoel Kfar Saba may not be selling by then.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sa'ar Fadida has his answer from Hapoel Haifa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Beitar Jerusalem waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Hapoel Haifa is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julio González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Hapoel Haifa asked and Sarmiento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Yoav Gerafi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willy Agada 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.
Hapoel Haifa asked and Acassuso said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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; Hapoel Haifa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Hapoel Haifa have made the call to Flamengo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Hapoel Haifa will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
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 Rotem Hatuel has written the date down.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hapoel Haifa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Yoav Gerafi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Willy Agada 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Haifa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Naor Sabag has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Yoav Gerafi 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 Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willy Agada 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ituano have kept their man, and Hapoel Haifa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
5 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.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hapoel Haifa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The terraces3 Jul 2028
Supporters organise against the Hapoel Haifa board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Hapoel Haifa
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $40.0K — a club that wants Matan Zelmanovics enough to be asked twice.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bnei Sakhnin wanted more than $38.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willy Agada 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.
Supporters organise against the Hapoel Haifa board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Hapoel Haifa is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa 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. Sfundo Nzama has just signed for Hapoel Haifa, and for once the answer mattered.
Hapoel Haifa asked and Hapoel Beer Sheva said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Something was said to Willy Agada and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A loan enquiry to Maccabi Netanya: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willy Agada 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 been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shai Elias signs something — a contract at Hapoel Haifa 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.
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 Naor Sabag has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutNaftali Balay knocks on the manager's door
SquadDario Župarić is training like a man with a point to make
Yoav Gerafi 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 39 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Hapoel Haifa is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad15 May 2028
Roei Zikri 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.
Nobody at Hapoel Haifa 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Itay Buganim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Hapoel Haifa has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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 Rotem Hatuel has written the date down.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hapoel Haifa can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roei Zikri 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rotem Hatuel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shai Elias signs something — a contract at Hapoel Haifa 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.
Position 12 and 21 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Yoav Gerafi 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
Willy Agada 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 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.
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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yinon Faingezicht is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roei Zikri 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.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Willy Agada 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 Shai Elias signs something — a contract at Hapoel Haifa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Eli Levy is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hapoel Haifa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Yoav Gerafi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Willy Agada 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; Sa'ar Fadida will call it something else in private.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
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.
16 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kazuki Matsuda and Hapoel Haifa agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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 Itay Buganim.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
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.
13 matches without a win, and then this, against Maccabi Petach Tikva. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
1 for Bruno Ramires, marked 7.67, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Hapoel Kiryat Shmona will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Itzik Shoolmayster has pre-agreed a move to Hapoel Haifa, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Universidad de Chile have kept their man, and Hapoel Haifa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A 2‑1 win over Maccabi Petach Tikva, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Hapoel Haifa pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
13 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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Maccabi Haifa have kept their man, and Hapoel Haifa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bruno Ramires and Hapoel Haifa agree another 2 years.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Hapoel Haifa will try again when the window opens; Hapoel Kfar Saba may not be selling by then.
At 20 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Hapoel Haifa will try not to make too much of it.
11 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.
Position 13 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The offer from Borneo for Lior Dabbur 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.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.95, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Yinon Faingezicht 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.
Régis N'do has gone, the accounts have $990.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hapoel Haifa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Maccabi Haifa paid $990.0K and Hapoel Haifa took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all 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 Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Hapoel Haifa asked and Maccabi Netanya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Lior Dabbur again, and this time the name on the line is Borneo. Hapoel Haifa are listening politely and promising nothing.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hapoel Haifa, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Haifa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
George Diba has gone, the accounts have $660.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Hapoel Haifa asked and Maccabi Haifa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The deal with Bnei Sakhnin is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The shirt still fits. Naftali Balay is back at Hapoel Haifa, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
8 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Haifa can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Régis N'do has come up in conversations Hapoel Haifa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Stephen Wisdom has, at Hapoel Haifa, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
Maor Erlich 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
The dugoutYoav Gerafi is still being punished for one mistake
Transfer targetsA loan move for Williams Yikat is in the works
7 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 Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Haifa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Maccabi Tel Aviv defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Liran Rotman’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hapoel Haifa needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hapoel Haifa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Matan Weissman to a room that had heard them before.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yinon Faingezicht is 20, 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 Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Matan Weissman left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Hapoel Haifa told Rotem Hatuel something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Haifa can pretend not to have heard.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Willy Agada. 1‑0 against Maccabi Petach Tikva, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Bruno Ramires
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Bruno Ramires has come out of that comparison in the side, and Hapoel Haifa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Matan Weissman could afford to be generous.
Position 12 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Matan Weissman after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Régis N'do trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Yinon Faingezicht 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Matan Weissman after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Yoav Gerafi’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hapoel Haifa needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutItay Buganim asks for a word with the manager
7.75, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Marked 7.83. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Manor Cohen commits to Hapoel Haifa for another 3 years.
The dugout18 Oct 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.” Matan Weissman, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hapoel Haifa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
8 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.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Kričak, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Matan Weissman left the room before anybody could ask which.
Maor Erlich 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Haifa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hapoel Haifa, 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.
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.
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.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Hapoel Haifa, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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; Hapoel Haifa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
Hapoel Kiryat Shmona have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Hapoel Haifa have made the call to Maccabi Tel Aviv. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Something was said to George Diba and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Régis N'do trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
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.
Amir Ben-Shimon 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.
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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Willy Agada signs something — a contract at Hapoel Haifa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hapoel Haifa can pretend not to have heard.
Yoav Gerafi 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 Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauan 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 Hapoel Haifa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Dario Župarić has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sa'ar Fadida, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Naor Sabag'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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Haifa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hapoel Haifa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Kauan’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauan 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.
Itay Ben-Hemo 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Hapoel Haifa, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hapoel Haifa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Willy Agada
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa 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 Régis N'do was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yoav Gerafi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Willy Agada signs something — a contract at Hapoel Haifa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Haifa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kauan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Naor Sabag is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Hapoel Haifa. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Amir Ben-Shimon trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Position 8 on 28 points, with the season drifting toward the summer. It is the safest place in football and the hardest one to sell a season ticket from.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hapoel Haifa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
“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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
Yoav Gerafi’s loan is measured in nothing happening
10 clean sheets from 20 appearances at Hapoel Haifa. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Régis N'do has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Yoav Gerafi 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 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hapoel Haifa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1 for Roei Alkukin, marked 7.94, 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.
“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; Hapoel Haifa are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Hapoel Haifa know now that the thought has arrived.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hapoel Haifa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dario Župarić and Hapoel Haifa agree another 2 years.
“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 Hapoel Haifa know it.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Haifa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Hapoel Haifa can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Hapoel Haifa know now that the thought has arrived.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Bnei Yehuda tried to reorganise, Hapoel Haifa did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hapoel Haifa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Yoav Gerafi will call it something else in private.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Matan Weissman to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Yoav Gerafi
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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alon Turgeman’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hapoel Haifa needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Hapoel Haifa will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Régis N'do 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Maccabi Haifa.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hapoel Haifa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Naor Sabag scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Hapoel Haifa.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Régis N'do 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.
Itay Ben-Hemo 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Hapoel Haifa will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Add another name to the list: Hapoel Kiryat Shmona have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about George Diba. The answer from Hapoel Haifa has not changed — yet.
The deal with Internacional is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Yoav Gerafi 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.
Hapoel Haifa asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Régis N'do 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.
18 appearances at Hapoel Haifa and the goals have stopped going in. Hapoel Haifa lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Vasco da Gama is saying, and nobody at Hapoel Haifa is enjoying the guessing.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Hapoel Haifa can tell you which week it ends in.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Amir Ben-Shimon 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Hapoel Haifa has been clear about where Dor Malul stands, which is more than many ever get.
17 appearances at Hapoel Haifa and the goals have stopped going in. Hapoel Haifa lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hapoel Haifa have done the hard part with Maccabi Haifa, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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 Hapoel Haifa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Hapoel Haifa asked and Almirante Brown 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 Régis N'do was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Dario Župarić'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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Yoav Gerafi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Hapoel Haifa training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Régis N'do 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.” Matan Weissman after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Maccabi Netanya in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hapoel Haifa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Itay Ben-Hemo 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.
14 appearances at Hapoel Haifa and the goals have stopped going in. Hapoel Haifa lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
In brief
The dugoutAmir Ben-Shimon is still being punished for one mistake
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Hapoel Haifa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A 2‑0 win over Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Régis N'do 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.
Itay Ben-Hemo 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.
Half the programme played, position 8, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Matan Weissman on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Hapoel Haifa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hapoel Haifa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Yoav Gerafi 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
Régis N'do 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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Maccabi Haifa.