Stefan Simić

Central Defender - Pafos
17 Mar 2030
Sunday
Process

Marked for Stefan Simić

151 Edition

The Pafos Herald

18 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Stefan Simić out for 18 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pafos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Neofytos Michail keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Pafos may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Pafos

Jay Gorter 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.

Market

As if he never left: Bruno returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Bruno is a Pafos player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Squad

Words at Pafos training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Silvera 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.

Boardroom

Pafos beat the market to Motorzinho from Paralimni

Paralimni will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Motorzinho has pre-agreed a move to Pafos, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

In brief

Back issues
148 Edition

The AEL Courier

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

AEL refuse to drop out of the race

Position 1, 58 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Stefan Simić breaks a bone — 39 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Laorent Shabani: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AEL have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

In brief

147 Edition

The AEL Courier

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Silverware for AEL

They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.

Squad

Stefan Simić breaks a bone — 46 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Bruno Almeida is named among the best

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. AEL will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Tempers go at AEL

Luther Singh 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.

Market

Stefan Simić is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AEL is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words at AEL training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roberto Fernández 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.

Market

The Sérgio Conceição talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AEL know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

The clock does Bruno’s negotiating for him

1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee AEL could ask drops and the wages Bruno can ask rise.

Market

Daniil Paroutis leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Daniil Paroutis leaves AEL the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief

  • Boardroom AEL keep producing them
  • Boardroom The AEL board put their names to it
146 Edition

The AEL Courier

14 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Stefan Simić out for 54 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AEL will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Gonzalo Gamarra puts it in writing

“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 AEL, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Andreas Keravnos is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AEL is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

In brief

145 Edition

The AEL Courier

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Stefan Simić breaks a bone — 62 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Only the photograph left for Facundo Costantini

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Costantini will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AEL the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Andreas Keravnos has agreed to leave AEL for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Július Szӧke stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Július Szӧke and AEL agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at AEL

Luther Singh 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.

Squad

Words at AEL training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Július Szӧke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

144 Edition

The AEL Courier

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

AEL up to position 1

58 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Squad

Stefan Simić breaks a bone — 69 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Daniil Paroutis is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AEL is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Luther Singh in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AEL this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Július Szӧke 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.

Squad

Jeremías Martinet gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

143 Edition

The AEL Courier

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Stefan Simić breaks a bone — 78 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at AEL

Luther Singh 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Stefan Simić

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Simić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AEL the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words at AEL training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Július Szӧke 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Giannis Kousoulos

“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.

Market

The Sérgio Conceição talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AEL know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

  • Market Bruno runs his contract down
  • Boardroom AEL keep producing them
  • Boardroom AEL board back the manager
142 Edition

The AEL Courier

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Stefan Simić out for 86 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AEL will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Luka Bogdan: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AEL have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Only the photograph left for Panagiotis Kyriakou

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Panagiotis Kyriakou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AEL the goodbyes have quietly begun.

In brief

141 Edition

The AEL Courier

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Stefan Simić breaks a bone — 94 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Mohamed Zaalouk: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AEL have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Facundo Costantini has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AEL they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

In brief

  • Squad Tempers go at AEL
  • Squad Words at AEL training over how hard people work
  • Market The Július Szӧke talk will not go away
139 Edition

The AEL Courier

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Christos Sielis breaks a bone — 27 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at AEL

Luther Singh 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Stefan Simić

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Simić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AEL the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words at AEL training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Július Szӧke 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at AEL

5 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.

Market

The Sérgio Conceição talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AEL know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

  • Market Still no signature from Bruno
  • Boardroom AEL keep producing them
  • Boardroom AEL board back the manager
135 Edition

The AEL Courier

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Christos Sielis breaks a bone — 57 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Nemanja Glavčić says AEL went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Gonzalo Gamarra asks to leave AEL

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Tempers go at AEL

Luther Singh 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Stefan Simić

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Simić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AEL the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words at AEL training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Július Szӧke is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

  • Market The Sérgio Conceição talk will not go away
  • Market The clock does Bruno’s negotiating for him
  • Boardroom AEL keep producing them
  • Boardroom The AEL board choose calm
132 Edition

The AEL Courier

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Nobody wins at AEL

30 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Match

Whatever happens, AEL do not lose

18 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Match

AEL are in among the leaders

Position 1 and 54 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Bruno Almeida

Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Bruno’s move to Agia Napa falls through

The deal that would have taken Bruno to Agia Napa has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to AEL with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Market

Only the photograph left for Daniil Paroutis

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniil Paroutis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AEL the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

AEL to lose Stefan Simić for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Stefan Simić 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.

Squad

Luther Singh in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AEL this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Július Szӧke 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

132 Edition

The Pafos Herald

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Uerdi Mara

42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pafos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Pafos up to position 2

53 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Match

Pafos cannot stop winning

4 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.

Market

Pafos say no — this time

The offer from Aris for Neofytos Michail 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Hilmar Þór Kjærnested Helgason

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hilmar Þór Kjærnested Helgason will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pafos the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Pafos

Jay Gorter 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.

Squad

Words at Pafos training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jajá 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.

Boardroom

Pafos beat the market to Stefan Simić from AEL

AEL will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Stefan Simić has pre-agreed a move to Pafos, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Squad

Hjörtur Hermannsson gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief