Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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.
Half the programme played, position 14, 3 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Position 14 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
0‑4 to Ethnikos Achnas, 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 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 Labros Ioannou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ermis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Leontios Kalaitzis 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ermis and Omonoia in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
Leontios Kalaitzis 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 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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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 dugout22 Oct 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jules Barido
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ermis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
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 had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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.
25 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Ermis and APOEL, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
0‑3 to Aris, 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.
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.
22 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Nea Salamis scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Ermis will try again when the window opens; Aris may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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.
Everything agreed with Aris, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Ermis close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Ermis asked and Apollon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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.
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.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Giorgos Artymatas 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. Petros Laban 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Marios Loizou 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Panagiotis Laban 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.
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.
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 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 Ermis know it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ermis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kauã Gabriel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Roman Lazăr
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
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.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
$640.0K settles it between the clubs for Mamadou Sané
Aris have accepted the money. What Ermis do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ermis asked and Apollon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Labros Ioannou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ioannis Antoniou 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.
Ermis interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ermis and Aris have settled on $670.0K. 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 easiest signature of my career.” Panagiotis Kattirtzis and Ermis agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Lazăr knocks on the manager’s door
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Doxa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ermis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
At 16 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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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. Apollon have kept their man, and Ermis go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ermis and Apollon have settled on $310.0K. 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 deal with Aris 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 22 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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 Ermis. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The offer from Doxa for Roman Lazăr 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.
The deal with Aris 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 36 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandros Kouros 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 shaken hands with Aris; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ermis have done the hard part with Apollon, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Day 8 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Panagiotis Kattirtzis has taken the hint, and Ermis are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
The clubs have shaken hands with Aris; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Panagiotis Kattirtzis is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The deal with Apollon 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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
At 22 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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Alexandros Kouros 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 bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Doxa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ermis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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 Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The deal with Aris 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Ermis would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Alexandros Kouros 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.
“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; Ermis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Kauã Gabriel is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 Ermis know it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ermis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Alexandros Kouros 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Labros Ioannou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ermis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Niko Datković
SquadQuestions about Juan Dussaubat on the training pitch
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 Alexandros Kouros was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ermis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 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.” Michalis Koukou has his answer from Ermis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ermis 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 Ermis 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 Alexandros Kouros was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Giannis Saregos has his answer from Ermis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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; Ermis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Panagiotis Kattirtzis is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ermis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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. Ermis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 Labros Ioannou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Ermis know it.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Lazăr knocks on the manager's door
11 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandros Kouros was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Lazăr knocks on the manager's door
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Giorgos Elia clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Position 14 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Panagiotis Kattirtzis has taken the hint, and Ermis are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Antonis Kolias
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ermis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Petros Alexandrou trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Niko Datković
17 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 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: 9 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ermis and Apollon in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ermis ran out of time with Pafos. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Labros Ioannou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Ermis know it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Giorgos Elia has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ermis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Agia Napa moved on, Roman Lazăr reports back to Ermis, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Ermis close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Ermis have gone to Agia Napa 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.
The offer went to Pafos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ermis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
$1.3M was the most the club would pay and Agia Napa were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
In brief
Transfer targetsThe paperwork begins on Marco Vanzini
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ermis and Apollon have settled on $190.0K. 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 offer went to Agia Napa this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ermis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Apollon have kept their man, and Ermis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
12 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ermis have done the hard part with Pafos, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Leontios Kalaitzis 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.
7 goals in one match, Panagiotis Kattirtzis on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ermis and AEL.
Ermis asked and Apollon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ermis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Giorgos Elia has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with AE Kition; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Agia Napa have kept their man, and Ermis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
10 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 had been thinking. Alexandros Kouros 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.
9 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ermis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
8.13. 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.
Level with 94 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Ermis had all but put away. Nea Salamis will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Labros Ioannou 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 had been thinking. Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
Something was said to Giannis Saregos and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Ermis will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Giorgos Elia on the draw
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ermis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 13 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Labros Ioannou 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 bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ermis 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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Panagiotis Kattirtzis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ermis 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 Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 Ermis know it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Giorgos Elia after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Kostakis Loizou
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 113 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ermis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Leontios Kalaitzis 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 Panagiotis Kattirtzis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nicholas Kolias 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Charalambos Merkis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andreas Stylianou 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 129 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 136 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Giorgos Elia after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pieros Artymatas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.42 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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 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.
Roman Lazăr 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Giorgos Elia could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutLabros Ioannou has become a man the manager trusts
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ermis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Leontios Kalaitzis 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.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Ermis dressing room in a hurry
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 Labros Ioannou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Labros Ioannou had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and AEL were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
0‑3 to Nea Salamis, 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leontios Kalaitzis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 6.53 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“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 Ermis know 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 Ermis 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Giorgos Elia to a room that had heard them before.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
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.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ermis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Giannis Saregos has his answer from Ermis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Petros Makris did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have shaken hands with Aris; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 13 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Ermis 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Ermis will try again when the window opens; APOEL may not be selling by then.
Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
11 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Labros Ioannou 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.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1‑4 against Anorthosis, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Everything was agreed with Aris and then the doctor spoke. Ermis have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
$570.0K settles it between the clubs for David Goldar
Pafos have accepted the money. What Ermis do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Pafos have accepted the money. What Ermis do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Panagiotis Kattirtzis is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ermis have done the hard part with Aris, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Aydın Bağ 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Labros Ioannou
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 15 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.
Ermis have gone to Agia Napa 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.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 5 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ermis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jason Nicolaou has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The clubs have shaken hands with Apollon; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Aris 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.
The offer went to APOEL this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud 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 Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis 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 Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nick Tsaroulla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ermis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 23 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.
Ermis asked and Apollon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Aydın Bağ 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 offer went to Agia Napa this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
At 35 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 12 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The bid was some way short and Ermis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
$410.0K settles it between the clubs for Ilyas Baig
Ethnikos Achnas have accepted the money. What Ermis do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Panagiotis Kattirtzis is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Ermis asked and Pafos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Aydın Bağ 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 had been thinking. Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The phone has started ringing about Gabriele de Donno again, and this time the name on the line is Agia Napa. Ermis are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer went to Agia Napa this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Agia Napa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ermis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
$310.0K settles it between the clubs for Igal Bekker
APOEL have accepted the money. What Ermis do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Labros Ioannou trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jason Nicolaou has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nick Tsaroulla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ermis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ermis offered $1.5M; Apollon said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Ermis asked and Apollon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Aydın Bağ 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.
97 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ermis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Pafos 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.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Aydın Bağ 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 Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The words a physio says slowly. 105 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The deal with Apollon 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Agia Napa have kept their man, and Ermis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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, wages agreed, and Agia Napa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ermis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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 Panagiotis Kattirtzis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Apollon have kept their man, and Ermis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jason Nicolaou has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nick Tsaroulla will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ermis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Nea Salamis 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.
Aydın Bağ 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.
Aydın Bağ 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Panagiotis Kattirtzis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ermis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriele de Donno signs something — a contract at Ermis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Giancarlo 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 had been thinking. Nick Tsaroulla 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.
“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; Ermis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ermis. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Lazăr knocks on the manager’s door
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis 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 Ermis can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ermis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nick Tsaroulla 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.
75 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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 change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Leonel Szalich's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Ermis has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Panagiotis Kattirtzis signs something — a contract at Ermis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Ermis would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Giancarlo 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 Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ermis could ask drops and the wages Nick Tsaroulla can ask rise.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriele de Donno signs something — a contract at Ermis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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 words a physio says slowly. 97 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 Ermis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Ermis, 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.” Ermis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nick Tsaroulla has agreed terms with Apollon for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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 Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jason Nicolaou has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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 Panagiotis Kattirtzis signs something — a contract at Ermis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Cenk Tekdemir is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Giancarlo has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Lazăr knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 111 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Giancarlo 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 Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ermis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Giancarlo 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.
“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 Ermis know it.
127 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ermis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ermis can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nick Tsaroulla 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.
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Ermis will try very hard not to make too much of it.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Gabriele de Donno's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandros Kouros trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ermis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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 Ermis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gabriele de Donno signs something — a contract at Ermis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 13 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Panagiotis Kattirtzis did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Giancarlo 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 Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Panagiotis Kattirtzis did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ermis asked and Omonoia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jason Nicolaou has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Gabriele de Donno reports back to Ermis with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Panagiotis Kattirtzis did not need any: 8.06, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Ermis close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PSV keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 Ermis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Giancarlo 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 Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ermis asked and Basel said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ermis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Panagiotis Kattirtzis did not need any: 7.60, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ermis can pretend not to have heard.
Giancarlo 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 had been thinking. Nick Tsaroulla 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.
Ermis asked and Galatasaray said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ermis can tell you which week it ends in.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Apollon have kept their man, and Ermis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Panagiotis Kattirtzis 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ermis can tell you which week it ends in.
Aydın Bağ 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Cenk Tekdemir has, at Ermis, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nick Tsaroulla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ermis can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ermis 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 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.
Ermis asked and Nimes 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 afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Panagiotis Kattirtzis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout27 Dec 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 0‑2 Jason Nicolaou left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.