Marked for Gustavo Ramírez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jul 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Hiago Alves is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Sebastian Hinteregger 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jul 2028
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: SV Ried have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gustavo Ramírez. The answer from Mattersburg has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market10 Jul 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mattersburg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Markus Grillitsch has agreed terms with Austria Wien for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Sebastian Hinteregger 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
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jul 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 78 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.
Market3 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mattersburg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gustavo Ramírez and Mattersburg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Mattersburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guido Schlager 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Intake day at the Mattersburg academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jun 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
The unthinkable, invoiced: Valentino Ulmer sold
St. Gallen arrived with $5.2M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market26 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mattersburg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market26 Jun 2028
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces26 Jun 2028
Mattersburg sell a favourite for $5.2M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Valentino Ulmer was one of the reasons people came, and $5.2M does not replace that by itself.
Squad26 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jun 2028
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market12 Jun 2028
The offer from Austria Wien for Guido Schlager 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.
The terraces12 Jun 2028
Mattersburg sell a favourite for $680.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Nicholas Ammeter was one of the reasons people came, and $680.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market12 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Sebastian Hinteregger 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
Sturm Graz paid $680.0K and Mattersburg took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jun 2028
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mattersburg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A move Hiago Alves would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Hiago Alves is living that version at Mattersburg, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad5 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Sturm Graz have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nicholas Ammeter. The answer from Mattersburg has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 May 2028
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 May 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 May 2028
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 Mattersburg have had the benefit of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 126 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.
Squad22 May 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 31 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 133 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.
Squad15 May 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 38 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 May 2028
Sebastian Hinteregger 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
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Squad
Anrie Chase falls out with a teammate over standards
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
141 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 May 2028
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.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lucas Salinas and Mattersburg agree another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
148 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 May 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 54 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market1 May 2028
“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 Mattersburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 61 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 Apr 2028
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad24 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Sebastian Hinteregger 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
-
Squad
Anrie Chase falls out with a teammate over standards
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 84 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mattersburg can pretend not to have heard.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 Mar 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kevin Grillitsch
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mattersburg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Kevin Grillitsch damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 113 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kevin Grillitsch
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market6 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastian Hinteregger and Mattersburg agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Sebastian Hinteregger 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
Salaheddine El Kanfoud is 19, and Mattersburg have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 121 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kevin Grillitsch
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
Kevin Grillitsch damages knee ligaments — 68 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 68 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A move Emil Mbeng would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Emil Mbeng is living that version at Mattersburg, and it tends to show in the first month.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jan 2028
Kevin Grillitsch damages knee ligaments — 84 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 84 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Mattersburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentino Ulmer 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
Kevin Grillitsch damages knee ligaments — 91 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Sebastian Hinteregger 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
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Valentino Ulmer 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“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.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Wolfgang Baumgartner was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. 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.
Match27 Nov 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad29 Nov 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Nov 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces1 Nov 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 27 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Oct 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michael Lang, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
5.55. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Michael Lang goes up and wins it — 6.94
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 6.94 for the rest of it.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Sebastian Hinteregger 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 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gustavo Ramírez, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“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 Mattersburg know it.
Match23 Oct 2027
It needed Michael Lang to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Austria Wien, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mattersburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentino Ulmer, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for David Schlager
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mattersburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Sep 2027
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Valentino Ulmer scored in the 89th minute, Wolfsberger AC had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Mattersburg took the lot.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad13 Sep 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Sebastian Hinteregger 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Valentino Ulmer’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mattersburg.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Valentino Ulmer 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
5.45 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Mattersburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Mattersburg's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mattersburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Match21 Aug 2027
Whatever happens, Mattersburg do not lose
8 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Valentino Ulmer 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“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; Mattersburg are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gustavo Ramírez, and the manager let it.
Match21 Aug 2027
The run at home goes on for Mattersburg
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Market23 Aug 2027
No place for Luis Bonilla in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Luis Bonilla has his answer from Mattersburg; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match21 Aug 2027
It needed Valentino Ulmer to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Austria Wien, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Aug 2027
Stefan Bell has been here 15 seasons
342 appearances across 15 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 49 days on the sidelines for Benedict Hollerbach, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Aug 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Sebastian Hinteregger 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lorenzo Dellavalle and Mattersburg agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Michael Lang 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Monopoli will make the call about Michael Lainer this week. Mattersburg have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Market2 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Andreas Hinteregger has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Mattersburg.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
A mark of 4.41 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market2 Aug 2027
At 37, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Match31 Jul 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Red Bull Salzburg came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.