Marked for Anthony Schmid
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 May 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amstetten is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 May 2029
Amīn-Elias Gröller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 May 2029
Leomend Krasniqi 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.
The dugout14 May 2029
Dennis Zeriali knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Amstetten, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 May 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anthony Schmid signs something — a contract at Amstetten or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout14 May 2029
Tolga Öztürk gets picked when it counts
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 Tolga Öztürk is on it.
Market14 May 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout14 May 2029
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 Marc Helleparth has written the date down.
In brief
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Squad
Questions about Deimer Longas on the training pitch
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Squad
Sam Stubbs is training like a man with a point to make
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market16 Apr 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market16 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amstetten they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jürgen Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Apr 2029
El Hadj Mané 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 dugout16 Apr 2029
“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.
Market16 Apr 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anthony Schmid signs something — a contract at Amstetten or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Tolga Öztürk has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Amstetten 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Dennis Zeriali has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Amstetten that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Mar 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market19 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amstetten is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Amīn-Elias Gröller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jürgen Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nampalys Mendy, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Dennis Zeriali asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
Market19 Mar 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anthony Schmid signs something — a contract at Amstetten or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Tolga Öztürk has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Amstetten 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Mar 2029
FAC Wien will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Amstetten were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match12 Mar 2029
Full time on the season at Amstetten
Position 12 on 37 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.73, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market12 Mar 2029
Jules Collet hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Amīn-Elias Gröller 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Jürgen Bauer 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.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Marked 8.15 — 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 dugout12 Mar 2029
Amīn-Elias Gröller 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Feb 2029
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market19 Feb 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amstetten they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Jürgen Bauer 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Philipp Hercher and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Kroměříž have kept their man, and Amstetten go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match17 Feb 2029
0‑2 to Austria Klagenfurt, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“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.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
The plan did not have a place for Leomend Krasniqi
Nobody at Amstetten is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Jan 2029
Marvin Schieb hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Phillip Živanović will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amstetten the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
The deal with Austria Klagenfurt 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Amīn-Elias Gröller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Nampalys Mendy 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 ratings22 Jan 2029
Marked 8.21 — 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Austria Lustenau waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Amstetten is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market8 Jan 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
No thanks: Salko Hamzić rejects the move
Amstetten had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Red Bull Salzburg, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Yanis Eisschill and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jürgen Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Nampalys Mendy
“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.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
The game went through Anthony Schmid — 6.61
Marked 6.61 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
A brace, and Anthony Schmid takes the afternoon — 8.66
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anthony Schmid provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market1 Jan 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Amstetten they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Raheem Edwards, 33, rolls back the years — 8.02
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.02 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Yanis Eisschill 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.
Match30 Dec 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Anthony Schmid. 3‑1 against Austria Salzburg, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Loan watch1 Jan 2029
“I watch every Amstetten game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Admira Wacker runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Amstetten training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nampalys Mendy 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 dugout1 Jan 2029
Thomas Murg gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Dec 2028
Amīn-Elias Gröller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Jürgen Bauer 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.
Match23 Dec 2028
1‑2 to Stripfing, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead25 Dec 2028
Austria Salzburg next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The terraces25 Dec 2028
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
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 dugout25 Dec 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yanis Eisschill trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout18 Dec 2028
Matthias Gragger: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Amstetten have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market18 Dec 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Amstetten, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Amīn-Elias Gröller 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jürgen Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dennis Zeriali, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Marked 7.97 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Amstetten had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match16 Dec 2028
It needed Anthony Schmid to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Rapid Wien II, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Konrad Lindner was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Amstetten dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout11 Dec 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Amstetten have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market11 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Amīn-Elias Gröller 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.
Match9 Dec 2028
FC Liefering made Amstetten work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Nampalys Mendy 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Felix Schönegger and Amstetten agree another 3 years.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.72 on the card, and the Amstetten support went home talking about one name.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
Dennis Zeriali knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Amstetten, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Dec 2028
Amstetten sink to position 15
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market4 Dec 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Amstetten, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amstetten is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Amstetten have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Amstetten this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Amstetten training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jürgen Bauer 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.
Match2 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Dec 2028
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Amstetten have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.63, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Amīn-Elias Gröller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Jürgen Bauer 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Anthony Schmid’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Amstetten.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“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.
Match27 Nov 2028
Halfway: Amstetten sit in position 15
15 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout27 Nov 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.” Konrad Lindner kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Looking ahead27 Nov 2028
First Vienna next, and one man in the Amstetten dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Nov 2028
Andreas Fuchs breaks a bone — 27 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market13 Nov 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jürgen Bauer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad13 Nov 2028
El Hadj Mané and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match11 Nov 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthias Gragger, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
The division's best last weekend was a Amstetten man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Anthony Schmid was the best thing in any of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Nov 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Match6 Nov 2028
Amstetten sink to position 15
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market6 Nov 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Andreas Fuchs out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Amstetten will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market6 Nov 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gernot Grillitsch will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Amstetten the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Amstetten this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Jürgen Bauer 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.
Match4 Nov 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Anthony Schmid. 2‑1 against Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Oct 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Andreas Fuchs out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Amstetten will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Oct 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match28 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Amstetten's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Amstetten has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Amīn-Elias Gröller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Jürgen Bauer gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Amstetten training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nampalys Mendy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Oct 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A fracture rules Andreas Fuchs out for 75 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Amstetten will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Oct 2028
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
Marc Helleparth: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Amstetten have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market2 Oct 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Jürgen Bauer 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
1‑2 to SV Ried, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Konrad Lindner after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
Dennis Zeriali knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dennis Zeriali trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Sep 2028
Dal Varešanović damages knee ligaments — 62 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
Market25 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Sep 2028
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Amstetten training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jürgen Bauer 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Philipp Hercher 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.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marc Helleparth and Amstetten agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Konrad Lindner after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andre Grey, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Sep 2028
77 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Amstetten lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market11 Sep 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market11 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amstetten is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market11 Sep 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Yanis Eisschill reports back to Amstetten with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
No deal for Paul Gartler at that price
Amstetten offered $720.0K; Grazer AK said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Amīn-Elias Gröller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Amstetten training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jürgen Bauer 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.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Loan watch11 Sep 2028
“I did not go to Admira Wacker to sit and watch. I want to come back to Amstetten and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Sep 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dal Varešanović
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Amstetten lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match2 Sep 2028
It had gone 15 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Match30 Aug 2028
Amstetten bow out of the cup
First Vienna go through and Amstetten go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Amstetten may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
A brace, and Anthony Schmid takes the afternoon — 8.92
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anthony Schmid provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces4 Sep 2028
A cup hiding at First Vienna leaves Amstetten explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Nampalys Mendy, 36, rolls back the years — 7.89
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market4 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amstetten can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Amstetten close the window on a squad of their own making
17 in and 13 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Aug 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dal Varešanović
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Amstetten lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Aug 2028
No end in sight to Amstetten's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Amstetten has to find a result from somewhere.
Market21 Aug 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Amstetten, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces21 Aug 2028
Julian Turi has gone, the accounts have $780.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Philipp Hercher gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Philipp Hercher has just signed for Amstetten, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“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; Amstetten are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market21 Aug 2028
Business is business: Julian Turi goes
Red Bull Salzburg paid $780.0K and Amstetten took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Amīn-Elias Gröller 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.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
Amstetten asked and Sigma Olomouc said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Apr 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Amstetten, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Baidoo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Matthias Gragger 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
Nampalys Mendy asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
When it matters, Tommy Neale plays
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.
Market24 Apr 2028
The Joris Boguo story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Joris Boguo signs something — a contract at Amstetten or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
The bid was some way short and Amstetten did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Amstetten, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Dal Varešanović 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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Amstetten asked and Solin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Yanis Eisschill 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.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
104% of the income goes out in wages at Amstetten
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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Uljanik Pula have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Match22 Jan 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Kapfenberg leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Konrad Lindner was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Amstetten dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jan 2028
A season average of 7.12 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Amstetten know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Martin Moormann 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dal Varešanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Jedinstvo Ub have kept their man, and Amstetten go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Anthony Schmid was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.84, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Match15 Jan 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Amstetten now.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Martin Moormann 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dal Varešanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Oct 2027
8 new faces, and Amstetten are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Amstetten now.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“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.
Market11 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Edmund Baidoo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Salko Hamzić’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Amstetten needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Yanis Eisschill asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Oct 2027
Amstetten refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 18 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A brace, and Anthony Schmid takes the afternoon — 8.57
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anthony Schmid provided it, and the 8.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Edmund Baidoo, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.96
A mark of 7.96 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match2 Oct 2027
Amstetten cannot stop winning
4 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dal Varešanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Matthias Gragger and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
He is 19 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Edmund Baidoo is the month’s best young player
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Amstetten will try not to make too much of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
No sign of nerves from Edmund Baidoo at 21 — 8.20
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Edmund Baidoo did not need any: 8.20, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Jamal Mohammed is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Amstetten training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edmund Baidoo 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Yanis Eisschill 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Young Violets made Amstetten work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The decline has begun for Ença Fati
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Amstetten is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Joris Boguo
“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 dugout20 Sep 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.” Konrad Lindner kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Aug 2027
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match25 Aug 2027
The cup run ends for Amstetten
1‑2 against Austria Lustenau, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Edmund Baidoo, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match28 Aug 2027
4 matches without a win for Amstetten
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Amstetten are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Baidoo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Amstetten
Yanis Eisschill 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Edmund Baidoo, 21, steals the show — 8.19
Marked 8.19 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anthony Schmid and Amstetten agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Martin Moormann 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Amstetten have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Amstetten
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edmund Baidoo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Amstetten asked and Defensor Sporting 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 terraces9 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Edmund Baidoo 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: George Davies. 2‑0 against First Vienna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 Amstetten, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Aug 2027
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.
Match31 Jul 2027
5 matches without a win for Amstetten
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Amstetten are no longer polite ones.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anthony Schmid and Amstetten agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market2 Aug 2027
Valentino Massimiani has left for Altach in a $230.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportes La Serena have kept their man, and Amstetten go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Felix Köchl
“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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Anthony Schmid’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.