Marked for Nikki Havenaar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sagan Tosu may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Nov 2026
111 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
294% of the income goes out in wages at Sagan Tosu
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sagan Tosu may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Sagan Tosu's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sagan Tosu has to find a result from somewhere.
Market14 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Match12 Sep 2026
It needed Carlos Abeldaño to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Vegalta Sendai, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 135 days on the sidelines for Clint Irwin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Koki Sakamoto, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Sagan Tosu
0‑0 against Yokohama F. Marinos, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Alexandre Oukidja: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match22 Aug 2026
Still nobody has beaten Sagan Tosu
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandre Oukidja, and the manager let it.
Match22 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Nikki Havenaar knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikki Havenaar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market24 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kenta Nishizawa signs something — a contract at Sagan Tosu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Omiya Ardija, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market17 Aug 2026
The fee is $2.4M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Kashima Antlers drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Market17 Aug 2026
As if he never left: Ayumu Toyoda returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Ayumu Toyoda is a Sagan Tosu player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Match15 Aug 2026
Jubilo Iwata made Sagan Tosu work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Vykintas Slivka
“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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market17 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Yoshiki Narahara has his answer from Sagan Tosu; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sagan Tosu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.