15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Austin FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Gallagher 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.
Jon Gallagher 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Austin FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Brandon Vázquez 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Austin FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Žan Kolmanič 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 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 Christian Ramírez has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Damian Łaś trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
In brief
SquadJon Gallagher is training like a man with a point to make
The tie is over and the right side of it is theirs. 2‑0 on the night, a dressing room that will not come down for a day and a half, and a next round nobody has thought about yet.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Santiago Pita did not need any: 7.83, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Brandon Vázquez 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Austin FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Žan Kolmanič 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Brandon Vázquez 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Žan Kolmanič 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.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
The mood at Austin FC has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
18 matches without a win, and then this, against Vancouver Whitecaps. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Two goals and a mark of 9.06 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Alavés is saying, and nobody at Austin FC is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Austin FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Austin FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Žan Kolmanič 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.
Position 13 and 24 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“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 Austin FC, and it is not being withdrawn.
Brandon Vázquez 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Žan Kolmanič 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Austin FC 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 Austin FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brandon Vázquez 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 Jon Bell 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Austin FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Valentino Barone made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
24 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Austin FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Žan Kolmanič 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.
Christian Ramírez 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.
“I watch every Austin FC game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Chicago Fire runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A new manager did not pick last season’s side and does not care what it looked like. Myrto Uzuni has taken that personally, in the best sense, and Austin FC are seeing a version of him the last regime had stopped seeing.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
24 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Žan Kolmanič 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 watch every Austin FC game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Chicago Fire runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Austin FC, 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
“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; Austin FC are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Austin FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Austin FC, and 7 appearances in 28 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Micah Burton was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Austin FC lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brandon Vázquez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Žan Kolmanič 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. Montevideo City Torque have kept their man, and Austin FC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrew Dest 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Austin FC will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.