Marcos Astina 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 accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Borneo now.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Abdullah Al-Hafith trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
1 for Mohammad Al-Husseini, marked 7.99, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yaser Alo Ali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A first appearance Ahmad Saddil will want to forget — 5.74
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.74, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marcos Astina 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 Sep 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Semen Padang runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Borneo know 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 Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
Chris Nduwarugira 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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The terraces3 Sep 2029
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Marcos Astina 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.
PSBS Biak left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jean Baptiste Onana. 1‑0 against Madura United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Marcos Astina 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.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Kei Hirose falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Serge Bogam, 21 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Yaser Alo Ali has agreed terms with Persib for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Marcos Astina 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 accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Borneo now.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.88 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
21 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Saheed Owolabi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marcos Astina. 1‑0 against Semen Padang, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 3‑2 win over Persijap, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Borneo know it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kaio Nunes signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
8.00. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.81 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Saheed Owolabi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Marcos Astina. 1‑0 against Bali United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Semen Padang will make the call about Dika Nurdiansyah this week. Borneo have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Getting past Saheed Owolabi has become the hardest job in the division
9 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.76 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Chris Nduwarugira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Saheed Owolabi 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
8.37. 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.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
23 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Maluku Utara United? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Borneo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Marcos Astina 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 name of Dika Nurdiansyah has come up in conversations Borneo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Borneo can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tegar Islami will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Chris Nduwarugira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 74 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kei Hirose is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammad Al-Husseini signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 81 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.
Persis go through and Borneo go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Rendy Oscario: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.76 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Saheed Owolabi 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.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.42 — 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.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.27 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Chris Nduwarugira 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tegar Islami will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Marcos Astina 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces30 Apr 2029
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 30 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammad Al-Husseini signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.86 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alejandro Cárdenas 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 120 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Marcos Astina was at the centre of it, Persija were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Chris Nduwarugira 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Saheed Owolabi 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 127 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Borneo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Marcos Astina 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 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The words a physio says slowly. 134 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.
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Borneo has been clear about where Yaser Alo Ali stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 141 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
0‑1 to Persijap, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kaio Nunes signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Borneo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
8.22. 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Mar 2029
7 new faces, and Borneo 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.38 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Marcos Astina 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
Florin Nedelcearu is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Alejandro Cárdenas will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Borneo escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alejandro Cárdenas provided it, and the 7.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces5 Mar 2029
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marcos Astina 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 Feb 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
8.14. 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.
“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; Borneo are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
6 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.
10 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.08 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Saheed Owolabi 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.
Marked 9.05 — 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.
At 23 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.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Chris Nduwarugira 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.
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andi Wibowo 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.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Borneo would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A season-long audition: Bnei Yehuda still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Borneo's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
The offer from Persebaya for Alfred Odinaka was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Borneo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
34 appearances and 5 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Borneo has been clear about where Habibi Jusuf stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Borneo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Saheed Owolabi 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Borneo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alfred Odinaka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Saheed Owolabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Semen Padang continues; the message travels home.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Borneo, another week without a signature from Alfred Odinaka.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Leo Guntara’s negotiating for him
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Borneo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Marcos Astina 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Borneo training over how hard people work
Boardroom111% of the income goes out in wages at Borneo
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alfred Odinaka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Marcos Astina 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Borneo training over how hard people work
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Borneo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Borneo 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.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marcos Astina 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.
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Saheed Owolabi 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The terraces18 Sep 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jean Baptiste Onana has just signed for Borneo, and for once the answer mattered.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
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 goals and a season average of 7.28 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Marcos Astina was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.77. 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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alfred Odinaka has agreed terms with Persebaya for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A brace, and Marcos Astina takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marcos Astina provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leo Guntara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsRabiu Yusuf turns it into his own net
Two goals and a mark of 8.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Koldo Obieta. 2‑1 against Dewa United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Koldo Obieta has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marcos Astina signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marcos Astina 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 name of Leo Guntara has come up in conversations Borneo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Every summer it is another club, another set of team-mates, another manager to convince. I have done all that. Now I want a pre-season at Borneo and a proper look at me.” He remains Semen Padang’s player until the spell runs out — but the argument is with the club that owns him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Saheed Owolabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Saheed Owolabi 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Habibi Jusuf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Borneo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marcos Astina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is 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.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 20 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.
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.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
Marcos Astina 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Maluku Utara United had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Borneo did not stop to explain themselves.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 2‑1 win over Maluku Utara United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leo Guntara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Borneo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Leo Guntara has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Saheed Owolabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.39 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marcos Astina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Borneo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Kei Hirose decided nobody was going anywhere. Persik had no time left to answer.
Marcos Astina 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.
Marked 8.78 — 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.
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi 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.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.95, and 2 involvements.
Chris Nduwarugira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
“Three loans in three years. At some point a club has to decide if I am their player or their asset.” The spell at Semen Padang continues; the message travels home.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Borneo told Alfred Odinaka something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Borneo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Marked 5.40. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Persija kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Borneo will be asked about the last half hour all week.
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.
Saheed Owolabi 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.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Borneo did not have in the autumn.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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 Borneo 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo 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 Borneo, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Borneo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Marcos Astina 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.
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Borneo.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Borneo, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Habibi Jusuf has his answer from Borneo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1 for Abdullah Al-Hafith, marked 7.79, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.14 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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 Borneo 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8.64. 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Juan Felipe Villa. 1‑0 against Bali United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
13 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Borneo can pretend not to have heard.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Saheed Owolabi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Marcos Astina 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Saheed Owolabi 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.
A 1‑0 win over Maluku Utara United, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Al-Otaibi 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 Borneo 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Semen Padang runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Marcos Astina 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Andri Pratama 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. Syahrian Saddil 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dimas Supriadi 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Chris Nduwarugira 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Marcos Astina 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Borneo has been clear about where Gavin Kwan Adsit stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Saheed Owolabi 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 phone has started ringing about Sihran Amarullah again, and this time the name on the line is Persijap. Borneo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Koldo Obieta falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Borneo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo 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 Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 132 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Borneo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Borneo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Chris Nduwarugira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dewa United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Marcos Astina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Borneo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulvohid G'ulomov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSIM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammad Al-Husseini signs something — a contract at Borneo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Saheed Owolabi 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Borneo training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Borneo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“I watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dewa United runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Syahrul Trisna trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Marcos Astina 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 watch every Borneo game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at PSIM runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.