35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Istanbulspor 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.” Istanbulspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Istanbulspor
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Istanbulspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
The deal with Trabzonspor is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Mario Krstovski 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.
Istanbulspor asked and Basaksehir said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aytaç Kara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Istanbulspor is running low.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Aytaç Kara and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 May 2029
94% of the income goes out in wages at Istanbulspor
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yorro Savage was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dijlan Aydın signs something — a contract at Istanbulspor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Istanbulspor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Mario Krstovski 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.
Eyupspor left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmet Yılmaz 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 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 Istanbulspor know it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Jaider Pérez will call it something else in private.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Erdem Seçgin’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Istanbulspor needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Istanbulspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Tibet Durakçay has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Three points for Istanbulspor, 1‑0 the final word against Sakaryaspor in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmet Yılmaz 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Enes Demiral could afford to be generous.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Istanbulspor have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mario Krstovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Ahmet Yılmaz 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.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Dijlan Aydın was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
100 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.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Istanbulspor had all but put away. Sivasspor will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Istanbulspor told Tibet Durakçay something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
0‑3 to Adana Demirspor, 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Istanbulspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Istanbulspor 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 Philip Elayo Azango was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Enes Demiral left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dijlan Aydın trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Istanbulspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mario Krstovski. 1‑0 against Fatih Karagumruk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kahraman Demirtas and Istanbulspor agree another 2 years.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmet Yılmaz 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.
A brace, and Eren Yağmur takes the afternoon — 8.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eren Yağmur provided it, and the 8.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7.71, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Mario Krstovski 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Galatasaray have kept their man, and Istanbulspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Ahmet Yılmaz 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 91 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.
59 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Istanbulspor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 7.91 for the rest of it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Istanbulspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mario Krstovski 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Enes Demiral, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Istanbulspor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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; Istanbulspor are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Mario Krstovski 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Istanbulspor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Istanbulspor. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Istanbulspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 to Amedspor, 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Istanbulspor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mario Krstovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Ahmet Yılmaz 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Enes Demiral after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutDijlan Aydın knocks on the manager's door
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Istanbulspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Istanbulspor 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 Ahmet Yılmaz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Istanbulspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
7.83, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Mario Krstovski 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Demeaco Duhaney, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Enes Demiral kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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 Istanbulspor can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The offer from Samsunspor for Dijlan Aydın 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.
8 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Agustín Allione's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
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.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Istanbulspor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Mario Krstovski 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 Philip Elayo Azango was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Istanbulspor asked and Basaksehir said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Ahmet Engin is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Cüneyt Köz is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Erdem Seçgin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dijlan Aydın signs something — a contract at Istanbulspor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Istanbulspor
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
He is going to Adana Demirspor, the club has $350.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Mario Krstovski 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.
Adana Demirspor pay $350.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philip Elayo Azango 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 words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Istanbulspor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dijlan Aydın trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Gökhan Altıparmak is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
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.
Mario Krstovski 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 Dijlan Aydın was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basaksehir have kept their man, and Istanbulspor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Istanbulspor told Ahmet Engin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Agustín Allione's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dijlan Aydın 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.
Marked 7.80 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
A point taken on 91 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Istanbulspor, and 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Istanbulspor can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Besiktas keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Mario Krstovski 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 Jan 2028
Ahmet Engin 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Antalyaspor have kept their man, and Istanbulspor go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Istanbulspor can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
A brace, and Mustafa Sol takes the afternoon — 8.54
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mustafa Sol provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhlis Dağaşan 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.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhlis Dağaşan 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Muhlis Dağaşan has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Gabriel Obekpa 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Haqi Osman is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Hakan Yildiz kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hakan Yildiz after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Amedspor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Demeaco Duhaney signs something — a contract at Istanbulspor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Mario Krstovski 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 Nov 2027
Words at Istanbulspor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmet Engin 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Muhlis Dağaşan has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
109% of the income goes out in wages at Istanbulspor
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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Hakan Yildiz, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
A brace, and Mustafa Sol takes the afternoon — 8.82
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mustafa Sol provided it, and the 8.82 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Demeaco Duhaney and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Ahmet Engin 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Hakan Yildiz on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Demeaco Duhaney signs something — a contract at Istanbulspor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Istanbulspor can pretend not to have heard.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Enes Öğrüce was one of the reasons people came, and $720.0K does not replace that by itself.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 30 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Istanbulspor had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Trabzonspor, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Demeaco Duhaney 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.