The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
0‑1 to Levadiakos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Kerim Mrabti 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
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 0‑1 Apostolos Torosidis left the room before anybody could ask which.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Atromitos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
0‑3 to Olympiacos, 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.
“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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Steven Zuber 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.
Something was said to Jere Uronen and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atromitos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Steven Zuber 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 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Wilson Manafá 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Atromitos, and 3 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Panathinaikos.
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 Liberto is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Panathinaikos in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atromitos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 2 on the scoresheet, 8.45 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Steven Zuber and Atromitos agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Steven Zuber 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.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Michalis Kosidis 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steven Zuber 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.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Steven Zuber’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atromitos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atromitos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atromitos have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Atromitos can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kerim Mrabti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Liberto is living that version at Atromitos, and it tends to show in the first month.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Seny Dieng and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Steven Zuber 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. Sturm Graz have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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; Atromitos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I watch every Atromitos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Panathinaikos runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. AEK moved on, Serginho reports back to Atromitos, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 16 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Atromitos have gone to Iraklis with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Steven Zuber 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.
Wilson Manafá 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everybody at Atromitos saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Thanasis Torosidis and Atromitos agree another 3 years.
In brief
The dugoutMakana Baku is still being punished for one mistake
The dugoutKerim Mrabti asks for a word with the manager
1‑5 to OFI, 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atromitos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Atromitos and OFI in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Atromitos
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Iraklis have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikos Georgiadis has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Spyridon Pelkas 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matthaios Mountes will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atromitos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$160.0K on the table at Iraklis. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steven Zuber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Atromitos asked and Gil Vicente said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Atromitos have no good answer.
Position 6 on 34 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Atromitos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atromitos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Serginho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atromitos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atromitos have done the hard part with Estudiantes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Panserraikos paid $570.0K and Atromitos took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steven Zuber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Atromitos asked and Gornik Zabrze said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“I watch every Atromitos game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Panathinaikos runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ramón Córdoba
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atromitos lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Estudiantes keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Atromitos asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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; Atromitos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Charlton Athletic 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.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atromitos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atromitos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steven Zuber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Panserraikos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vasilis Athanasiou. The answer from Atromitos has not changed — yet.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atromitos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Samuel Moutoussamy 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Steven Zuber 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.
Atromitos asked and Independiente said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Serginho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atromitos the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The fee is $420.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Kalamata drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Wilson Manafá 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Kerim Mrabti 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.
“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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
12 new faces, and Atromitos 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atromitos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Kalamata have accepted the money. What Atromitos do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Estudiantes is saying, and nobody at Atromitos is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steven Zuber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Atromitos know which stage they are at.
The fee is $17.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Olympiacos drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Atromitos heard it as anything else.
Atromitos have gone to PAOK with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Gustavo Puerta was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $17.2M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Steven Zuber 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. Internacional have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Atromitos and Olympiacos have settled on $17.2M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atromitos have lost him in all but the paperwork.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The fee is $480.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Panathinaikos drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
$160.0K on the table at Iraklis. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Godoy Cruz have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 4 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Félix Nzouango Bikien 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Ramón Córdoba 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.
Atromitos and Panathinaikos have settled on $480.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Simos Mitoglou was one of the reasons people came, and $1.7M does not replace that by itself.
Atromitos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lanús, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Steven Zuber 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.
Atromitos asked and Iraklis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
7 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Egaleo 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.
Atromitos 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lefteris Lyratzis and Atromitos agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Atromitos have gone to Iraklis with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
In brief
SquadWords at Atromitos training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Dani García
The words a physio says slowly. 146 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Samuel Moutoussamy 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 easiest signature of my career.” Matthaios Mountes and Atromitos agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Steven Zuber was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
18 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Atromitos now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Mateusz Cholewiak arrives at 37 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atromitos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 May 2027
Wilson Manafá 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kelvin Ofori 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 Kelvin Ofori signs something — a contract at Atromitos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Atromitos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilson Manafá 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Atromitos. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Michalis Kosidis and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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 Kelvin Ofori has written the date down.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Michalis Kosidis 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilson Manafá 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 6 on 34 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Wilson Manafá 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thanasis Karamanis 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos 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 Vasilis Athanasiou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atromitos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Makana Baku signs something — a contract at Atromitos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Wilson Manafá 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dimitris Stavropoulos has his answer from Atromitos; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dimitris Stavropoulos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Atromitos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Dani García has written the date down.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 145 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilson Manafá 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 Peter Michorl signs something — a contract at Atromitos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 6 on 34 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
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 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 year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Atromitos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos 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 Wilson Manafá was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Makana Baku signs something — a contract at Atromitos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 34 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Michalis Kosidis 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.
“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; Atromitos are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Something was said to Lorenzo Bernasconi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Wilson Manafá.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Angelos Liasos, marked 7.91, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
7.87, 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Atromitos can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 145 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atromitos may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Up for the corner, and Dani García delivers — 7.72
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Dani García scored, was marked 7.72, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Asteras were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Dimitris Kaloskamis 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.
He is 22 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Apostolos Torosidis was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Atromitos dressing room was either.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasilis Athanasiou 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.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atromitos lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Atromitos had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Tigre, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Atromitos asked and DAC Dunajska Streda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. AEL Larisa had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Atromitos until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Atromitos asked and Lokomotiv Sofia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
7.61, 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ponferradina is saying, and nobody at Atromitos is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tigre have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Thanasis Karamanis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is saying, and nobody at Atromitos is enjoying the guessing.
Atromitos asked and Krasnodar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Ilioupoli have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Giorgos Tzovaras. The answer from Atromitos has not changed — yet.
Atromitos have made the call to Ponferradina. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The deal with Dynamo Kyiv 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.
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.
Atromitos asked and Gimnasia La Plata said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 39 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
“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 Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
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. 13 actions, 6.51, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vasco da Gama have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Up for the corner, and Peter Michorl delivers — 7.47
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Peter Michorl scored, was marked 7.47, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Thanasis Karamanis 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 Dani García 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.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kelvin Ofori signs something — a contract at Atromitos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dani García 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
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 0‑2 Apostolos Torosidis left the room before anybody could ask which.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aris Thessaloniki in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dimitris Kaloskamis did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Position 6, 22 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not 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.
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.
1‑4 against Panathinaikos, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A mark of 7.79 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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Kelvin Ofori is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Atromitos dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dani García 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Apostolos Torosidis after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dimitris Kaloskamis provided it, and the 8.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dimitris Kaloskamis. 2‑1 against Panserraikos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dani García 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.” Apostolos Torosidis, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Minute 91, against Asteras, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos 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 Brian Sarmiento was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lefteris Lyratzis and Atromitos agree another 4 years.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Dani García 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.
Asteras next, and one man in the Atromitos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Dani García 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 Ramón Córdoba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Apostolos Torosidis chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Volos NPS defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Thanasis Karamanis 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Brian Sarmiento commits to Atromitos for another 1 years.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Kelvin Ofori
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Steven Zuber is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Sotiris Kontouris 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Dani García 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.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.59 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
PAOK made Atromitos work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Atromitos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dani García 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 medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Efthymios Papastathopulos, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Apostolos Torosidis, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Something was said to Dimitris Kaloskamis and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Charis Tsingaras’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atromitos needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atromitos, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Samuel Moutoussamy signs something — a contract at Atromitos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dani García 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.
Thanasis Karamanis 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Charis Tsingaras has his answer from Atromitos; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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. 15 actions, 6.76, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Samuel Moutoussamy 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.
49 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Makana Baku 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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 0‑1 Apostolos Torosidis left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atromitos will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Peter Michorl decided nobody was going anywhere. Aris Thessaloniki had no time left to answer.
Atromitos asked and Krasnodar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A 1‑0 win over Aris Thessaloniki, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
50 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dani García 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Peter Michorl was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atromitos will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Atromitos, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Anagennisi Karditsa have kept their man, and Atromitos go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Dani García 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Dani García is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
10 new faces, and Atromitos 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.
Aris Thessaloniki next, and one man in the Atromitos dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of 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 Atromitos can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Cortulua keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Panagiotis Tsantilas had Atromitos level again within 3 minutes, and Levadiakos never got to play with a lead at all.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Apostolos Torosidis could afford to be generous.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dani García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Panathinaikos 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Charis Tsingaras signs something — a contract at Atromitos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Atromitos has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“He is at an age where he has to be playing at the top level. We will listen to anybody.” The representative of Vasilis Athanasiou is not being subtle.
Next up on the road: Levadiakos, position 4. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dani García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Atromitos asked and DAC Dunajska Streda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Thanasis Karamanis 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Atromitos are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Atromitos would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Atromitos asked and OFI said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Egaleo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Matthaios Mountes. The answer from Atromitos has not changed — yet.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Georgios Giakoumakis has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atromitos 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 Dani García was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Atromitos asked and Sporting Cristal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: PAS Giannina have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dimitris Tsakmakis. The answer from Atromitos has not changed — yet.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atromitos, another week without a signature from Dani García.
Still no offer on the table, and Samuel Moutoussamy’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
“56 caps was 56 more than the boy who started ever expected.” At 34 he has stepped away from the national side and has not stepped away from Atromitos.
In brief
The dugoutKelvin Ofori knocks on the manager’s door
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Mansur