89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anorthosis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacob Karlstrøm was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Anorthosis 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anorthosis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 96 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Anorthosis can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Joca was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Nobody at Anorthosis 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.
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anorthosis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Boardroom28 Apr 2031
105% of the income goes out in wages at Anorthosis
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.
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 Andreas Chrysostomou is on it.
Alfie Hutchison 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.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Miullen’s negotiating for him
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Anorthosis
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anorthosis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Guilherme Castro has, at Anorthosis, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca 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.
He is 19, and nobody at Anorthosis signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Nobody at Anorthosis 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomás Silva signs something — a contract at Anorthosis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kostakis Artymatas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 124 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Anorthosis can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Clifford Aboagye is on it.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
131 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anorthosis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Anorthosis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Joca 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Babacar Dione was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom31 Mar 2031
122% of the income goes out in wages at Anorthosis
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.
138 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anorthosis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Clifford Aboagye 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Anorthosis 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tobias Schättin signs something — a contract at Anorthosis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vlad Dragomir trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 145 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Anorthosis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
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.
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 Babacar Dione is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anorthosis can pretend not to have heard.
Joca 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.
Squad10 Mar 2031
Babacar Dione falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Anorthosis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anorthosis, 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 Adriel da Silva has written the date down.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Omonoia go through and Anorthosis go home, 0‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It finished 0-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad24 Feb 2031
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca 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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tobias Schättin signs something — a contract at Anorthosis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kostakis Artymatas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Miullen’s negotiating for him
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Babacar Dione was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
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 Babacar Dione is on it.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anorthosis can pretend not to have heard.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Tomás Silva 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He is 19, and nobody at Anorthosis signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Miullen reports back to Anorthosis with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Danila Boiko has agreed terms with Doxa for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Anorthosis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anorthosis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Inter for Luka Archaia 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Babacar Dione 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.
8.04. 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Evagoras Charalabous had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anorthosis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Grigoris Konstantinou 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.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 85, against Omonoia, 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.
Christopher Grant is 18, and Anorthosis 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anorthosis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
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 Miullen.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anorthosis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anorthosis can pretend not to have heard.
Joca 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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Babacar Dione 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Konstantinos Tzolis is 17, and Anorthosis 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Clifford Aboagye 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anorthosis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Match21 Dec 2030
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Anorthosis. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Nobody at Anorthosis 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anorthosis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
1 for Vlad Dragomir, marked 7.96, 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.
Vlad Dragomir scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Aris, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad16 Dec 2030
Babacar Dione 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anorthosis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Clifford Aboagye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
10 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.
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Anorthosis
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Paralimni the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Anorthosis will enjoy reviewing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anorthosis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 7.33, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Half the programme played, position 10, 13 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Pafos? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Anorthosis has been clear about where Adriel da Silva stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad4 Nov 2030
Babacar Dione 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 point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“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.
Boardroom4 Nov 2030
100% of the income goes out in wages at Anorthosis
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.
Nobody at Anorthosis 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Anorthosis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.84 on the card, and the Anorthosis support went home talking about one name.
The dugout28 Oct 2030
The manager has not finished forgetting Tobias Schättin'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.
0‑4 to Omonoia, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout21 Oct 2030
The manager has not finished forgetting Tomás Silva'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 dugout21 Oct 2030
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Anorthosis will not try tonight.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Vlad Dragomir, marked 7.90, 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 Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Doxa left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Babacar Dione 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Anorthosis told Evagoras Charalabous something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Two goals and a mark of 8.86 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca 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.
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Anorthosis had all but put away. Agia Napa will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
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.
It needed Evagoras Charalabous to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Agia Napa, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 117th minute. Nea Salamis will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Anorthosis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Joca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Babacar Dione 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. APOEL defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Joca signs something — a contract at Anorthosis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Anorthosis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jaiden Francis-Caesar has, at Anorthosis, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 22 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.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Boardroom26 Aug 2030
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Anorthosis
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Add another name to the list: Agia Napa have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mateo Aguilar. The answer from Anorthosis has not changed — yet.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Camilo Varela is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Agia Napa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Anorthosis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Anorthosis are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anorthosis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mateo Aguilar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anorthosis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anorthosis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Tobias Schättin has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Anorthosis is running low.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Charlie Casper will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anorthosis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Camilo Varela is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Anorthosis know it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Anorthosis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Tomás Silva 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anorthosis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Anorthosis would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Anorthosis have no good answer.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Anorthosis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Anorthosis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Kris Gecaj 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jacob Karlstrøm was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Anorthosis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aaron Dhondt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Joca is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anorthosis can pretend not to have heard.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vladimir Paternoster is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad24 Jun 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Anorthosis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Clifford Aboagye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Anorthosis has been clear about where Miullen stands, which is more than many ever get.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anorthosis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anorthosis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Anorthosis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Babacar Dione 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad10 Jun 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Agia Napa will make the call about Mateo Aguilar this week. Anorthosis have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
He is 19, and nobody at Anorthosis signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Evagoras Charalabous trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout3 Jun 2030
Aaron Dhondt loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Aaron Dhondt's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 May 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Anorthosis had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Anorthosis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anorthosis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
In brief
The dugoutJoel Nilsson asks for a word with the manager
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Evagoras Charalabous signs something — a contract at Anorthosis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jacob Karlstrøm and Anorthosis agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Jacob Karlstrøm's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anorthosis can pretend not to have heard.
Clifford Aboagye 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
Babacar Dione was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca 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.
“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.
Boardroom22 Apr 2030
120% of the income goes out in wages at Anorthosis
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anorthosis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Anorthosis, another week without a signature from Markús Páll Ellertsson.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Anorthosis has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Solan Murel is living that version at Anorthosis, and it tends to show in the first month.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andreas Kolias has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ioannis Merkis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Valentinos Artymatas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Antonis Artymatas has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Markús Páll Ellertsson is living that version at Anorthosis, and it tends to show in the first month.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 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.
Nobody at Anorthosis 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.
“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 Anorthosis, 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.” Anorthosis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca 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 will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Evagoras Charalabous trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anorthosis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Anorthosis that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Anorthosis that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Emil Bergström plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Anorthosis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Babacar Dione 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Anorthosis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andreas Chrysostomou signs something — a contract at Anorthosis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alisson Oliveira Da Silva trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 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.
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.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anorthosis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Anorthosis is running low.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Mar 2030
Words at Anorthosis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joca is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Clifford Aboagye is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Anorthosis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Anorthosis has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Aleksandar Lyubenov 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.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Aleksandar Lyubenov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giorgos Kastanos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anorthosis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anorthosis 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 Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Anorthosis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The offer from Apollon for Michalis Ioannou 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.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikos Kyriakou has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jason Konstantinou has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nektarios Soteriou has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout11 Feb 2030
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Squad6 new faces, and Anorthosis are still learning each other
0‑4 to Apollon, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Anorthosis is running low.
“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 Anorthosis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Axel Ingi Jóhannesson is living that version at Anorthosis, and it tends to show in the first month.
Clifford Aboagye 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Stijn Middendorp provided it, and the 8.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stijn Middendorp will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anorthosis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Vladimir Paternoster has, at Anorthosis, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.