16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at FC Cincinnati has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces15 May 2028
The mood at FC Cincinnati has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Miles Robinson 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every FC Cincinnati game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Real Salt Lake runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FC Cincinnati they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at FC Cincinnati can tell you which week it ends in.
FC Cincinnati ran out of time with Real Salt Lake. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
FC Cincinnati offered $21.0K; San Jose Earthquakes 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. FC Cincinnati will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
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 fee is $2.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Colorado Rapids drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
$1.8M on the table at Real Salt Lake. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Miles Robinson 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.
FC Cincinnati have gone to San Jose Earthquakes 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at FC Cincinnati can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Colorado Rapids have accepted the money. What FC Cincinnati do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
FC Cincinnati offered $3.0M; Toronto FC 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.
The name of Gilberto Flores has come up in conversations FC Cincinnati were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
San Diego Football Club paid $890.0K and FC Cincinnati took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Nathan Ordaz 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Samuel Gidi
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FC Cincinnati have lost him in all but the paperwork.
0-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
FC Cincinnati have gone to Toronto FC 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Joe Brito has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Everything agreed with LA Galaxy, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $210.0K — a club that wants Alonso Coello enough to be asked twice.
$200.0K on the table at Toronto FC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Everything agreed with Philadelphia Union, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Miles Robinson 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 offer went to DC United 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 Ender Echenique was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
FC Cincinnati asked and Minnesota United FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Roman Celentano is on it.
In brief
The dugoutBrian Anunga is still being punished for one mistake
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.
Miles Robinson 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.
4 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.
Los Angeles Football Club paid $430.0K and FC Cincinnati took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
FC Cincinnati offered $160.0K; Austin FC 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.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at FC Cincinnati can tell you which week it ends in.
FC Cincinnati asked and Orlando Pirates said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
0‑3 to Philadelphia Union, 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.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to FC Dallas; FC Cincinnati go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
$250.0K on the table at Charlotte Football Club. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Inter Miami CF wanted more than $340.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
In brief
Boardroom5 academy players handed senior numbers at FC Cincinnati
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at FC Cincinnati is running low.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FC Cincinnati they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $370.0K — a club that wants Ian Fray enough to be asked twice.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Brian Schaefer has agreed terms with Toronto FC for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
$340.0K on the table at Inter Miami CF. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
David Douděra 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.
CF Montreal paid $210.0K and FC Cincinnati took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“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 FC Cincinnati know it.
Nashville SC pay $120.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The mood at FC Cincinnati has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The offer went to Austin FC 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FC Cincinnati have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Miles Robinson 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 Gilberto Flores was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati 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 FC Cincinnati 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
Brian Anunga is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teenage Hadebe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at FC Cincinnati is running low.
Miles Robinson 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.
The mood at FC Cincinnati has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Position 15 and 15 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati 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 FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teenage Hadebe is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Roman Celentano is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Cincinnati 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 Gerardo Valenzuela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at FC Cincinnati that is a harder question to answer.
Gilberto Flores and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teenage Hadebe is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Brian Anunga is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at FC Cincinnati that is a harder question to answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabe Segal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ender Echenique trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Athletico Paranaense arrived with $14.4M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at FC Cincinnati is running low.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at FC Cincinnati can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Evander has gone, the accounts have $14.4M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
David Douděra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Teenage Hadebe is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Jalen Hawkins was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around FC Cincinnati people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Teenage Hadebe 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 Kevin Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gabe Segal has written the date down.
The phone has started ringing about Evander again, and this time the name on the line is Athletico Paranaense. FC Cincinnati are listening politely and promising nothing.
Miles Robinson 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 Brian Anunga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutBrian Anunga is still being punished for one mistake
Miles Robinson 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 Kevin Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kenji Mboma Dem 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 ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Kevin Pierre falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The coaching staff have set Kristian Fletcher something separate to do. Whether it is a weakness being addressed or a strength being sharpened, nobody outside the building will know until it shows up on a Saturday.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Adam Saldana’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
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 FC Cincinnati 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 FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Brian Anunga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Roman Celentano is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FC Cincinnati, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
Adam Saldana 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pierre 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Brian Anunga's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at FC Cincinnati has been clear about where Evan Louro stands, which is more than many ever get.
Miles Robinson 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Kevin Pierre falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at FC Cincinnati would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Teenage Hadebe 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuel Gidi, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Anunga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at FC Cincinnati would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Celentano signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutJoe Brito asks for a word with the manager
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Kevin Pierre falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Joe Gyau is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one FC Cincinnati will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
Miles Robinson 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.
“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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Kevin Pierre falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Brian Anunga is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at FC Cincinnati has been clear about where Joe Gyau stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Anunga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mark Ferreira after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Adam Saldana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pierre is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at FC Cincinnati has been clear about where Tom Barlow stands, which is more than many ever get.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Atlanta United FC in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Celentano signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 15, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
The mood at FC Cincinnati has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Evander scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pierre 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Charlotte Football Club had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Evander scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
Miles Robinson 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.
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Brian Anunga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mark Ferreira after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutNo place for Kevin Pierre on the big day
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Dániel Pintér.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mark Ferreira after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. CF Montreal defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kevin Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dylan Teves, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mark Ferreira chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Position 15 and 12 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jalen Hawkins has, at FC Cincinnati, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. FC Cincinnati will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Anunga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at FC Cincinnati has been clear about where Brian Anunga stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pierre is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Roman Celentano is on it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mark Ferreira chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Adam Saldana and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at FC Cincinnati.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pierre 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 team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Adam Saldana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Brian Anunga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout16 Aug 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 1‑3 Mark Ferreira left the room before anybody could ask which.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Joe Gyau.
8 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Atlanta United FC did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.5M for Adrian Gill, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $140.0K — a club that wants Jack Elliott enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to Chicago Fire 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 FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. FC Cincinnati have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Kevin Pierre falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The name of Gilberto Flores has come up in conversations FC Cincinnati were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Miles Robinson 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.
$180.0K was the most the club would pay and Nashville SC 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.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estudiantes have kept their man, and FC Cincinnati go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Teenage Hadebe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FC Cincinnati have done the hard part with Inter Miami CF, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
St. Louis CITY SC paid $4.2M and FC Cincinnati took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.97 for the rest of it.
The offer went to Nashville SC 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. St. Louis CITY SC have kept their man, and FC Cincinnati go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
$2.1M on the table at Inter Miami CF. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Kenji Mboma Dem 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 easiest signature of my career.” Gilberto Flores and FC Cincinnati agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
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.
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.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
0‑4 against Philadelphia Union, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Adam Saldana 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 Kevin Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 15, 7 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Nobody left the FC Cincinnati dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Kevin Pierre falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mark Ferreira after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
7.44, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. FC Cincinnati had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Nick Hagglund
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.
Philadelphia Union next, and one man in the FC Cincinnati dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gerardo Valenzuela and FC Cincinnati agree another 4 years.
Teenage Hadebe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tom Barlow, and the manager let it.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Nobody left the FC Cincinnati dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Anunga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mark Ferreira after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at FC Cincinnati 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 dugoutNick Hagglund dropped after a run of poor form
18 matches without a win, and then this, against New England Revolution. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Evander scored, was marked 7.94, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Miles Robinson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenji Mboma Dem is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Evander. 2‑1 against New England Revolution, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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 words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
Miles Robinson 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at FC Cincinnati can tell you which week it ends in.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Celentano, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Pierre 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 dugout31 May 2027
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Mark Ferreira to a room that had heard them before.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
0‑4 to Columbus Crew, 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.
Kenji Mboma Dem and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Nobody left the FC Cincinnati dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Anunga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 May 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 0‑4 Mark Ferreira left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Teenage Hadebe's mistake
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Dylan Teves
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 15 and 4 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 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.
Tom Barlow 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 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I did not go to New England Revolution to sit and watch. I want to come back to FC Cincinnati and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 12 matches say the rest.
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Evander scored, was marked 5.81, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenji Mboma Dem 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.
Brian Anunga and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Arun Basuljevic and FC Cincinnati agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Evander's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
14 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.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Miles Robinson 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arun Basuljevic and FC Cincinnati agree another 3 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Brian Anunga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mark Ferreira after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
13 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
FC Cincinnati 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.
Teenage Hadebe 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 Rafael Mosquera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Evander at his very best
SquadA muscle injury sidelines Joe Brito for 15 days
“The easiest signature of my career.” Samuel Gidi and FC Cincinnati agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafael Mosquera 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 loan enquiry to Unión de Santa Fe: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alvas Powell’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and FC Cincinnati needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Celentano signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutBrian Anunga asks for a word with the manager
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Miles Robinson 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at FC Cincinnati can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bryan Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
The chase for Kevin Pierre ended with $1.7M changing hands and New York City out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rafael Mosquera is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Miles Robinson 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Bryan Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
FC Cincinnati and New York City have settled on $1.7M. 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.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bryan Ramírez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Adam Saldana has improved at 25, which nobody expected
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Dylan Teves falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Chicago Fire next, and one man in the FC Cincinnati dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan Ramírez 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.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
1 for Obinna Nwobodo, marked 7.63, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The fee is $1.4M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. New York Red Bulls drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Miles Robinson 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 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 FC Cincinnati know it.
FC Cincinnati asked and FC Dallas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Philadelphia Union kept coming because nothing stopped them, and FC Cincinnati will be asked about the last half hour all week.
7 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.
New York Red Bulls have accepted the money. What FC Cincinnati do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kenji Mboma Dem and FC Cincinnati agree another 3 years.
Sal Olivas 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.
Austin FC paid $520.0K and FC Cincinnati took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FC Cincinnati have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Real Salt Lake pay $2.1M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
“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 FC Cincinnati 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 FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
FC Cincinnati asked and DC United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$170.0K was the most the club would pay and New York Red Bulls 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.
FC Cincinnati have more foreign players than the form allows, and he is the one without a place on it. He will train with a side he is not permitted to play for until the next window.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Gidi 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
DC United did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $480.0K for Gabe Segal, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $190.0K — a club that wants Julian Hall enough to be asked twice.
FC Cincinnati have gone to New York Red Bulls 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. New York Red Bulls have kept their man, and FC Cincinnati go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$140.0K was the most the club would pay and St. Louis CITY SC 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan Ramírez 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Evander wants continental football; whether FC Cincinnati can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Miles Robinson 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 Ayoub Jabbari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Roman Celentano's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati 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 FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Bryan Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one FC Cincinnati will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at FC Cincinnati would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Cincinnati know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FC Cincinnati, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ștefan Chirilă was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FC Cincinnati can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Gidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Miles Robinson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ayoub Jabbari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Cincinnati know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Nick Hagglund has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bryan Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bryan Ramírez signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at FC Cincinnati. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Miles Robinson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FC Cincinnati can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Gidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Michael Halliday and FC Cincinnati agree another 3 years.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Cincinnati 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 Brian Anunga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayoub Jabbari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. FC Cincinnati will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at FC Cincinnati, another week without a signature from Arun Basuljevic.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Anunga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I will play as long as the body lets me and stop the day it does not.” He is 34, with 0 appearances behind him, and the club has to plan for a decision that is not yet made.
Evander 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bryan Ramírez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Adam Saldana has improved at 25, which nobody expected
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Cincinnati 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.
In brief
The dugoutPaul Walters asks for a word with the manager
At 19 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Gidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bryan Ramírez signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Cincinnati will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati 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 Ayoub Jabbari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bryan Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FC Cincinnati, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FC Cincinnati will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Bryan Ramírez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“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; FC Cincinnati are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Gidi 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. FC Cincinnati will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Miles Robinson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayoub Jabbari 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Khiry Shelton and FC Cincinnati agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FC Cincinnati will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Miles Robinson 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan Ramírez 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 easiest signature of my career.” Khiry Shelton and FC Cincinnati agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Cincinnati 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 Ștefan Chirilă trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Cincinnati will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Gidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at FC Cincinnati that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Cincinnati will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Bryan Ramírez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ayoub Jabbari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. FC Cincinnati 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 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.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Bryan Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Adam Saldana and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and FC Cincinnati are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
1 for Obinna Nwobodo, marked 7.91, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ștefan Chirilă is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Miles Robinson 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mark Ferreira after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Bryan Ramírez 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayoub Jabbari 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 Gerardo Valenzuela and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Evan Louro has his answer from FC Cincinnati; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Atlanta United FC next, and one man in the FC Cincinnati dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FC Cincinnati will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bryan Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 Mark Ferreira to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Cincinnati will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Miles Robinson 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.
“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; FC Cincinnati are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Gidi 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.
7.13, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
At 19 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.75, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ayoub Jabbari falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
7.85, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Tom Barlow 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bryan Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Mark Ferreira left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 dugout14 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Brian Anunga
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 is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Joe Brito is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Bryan Ramírez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Samuel Gidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Paul Walters has his answer from FC Cincinnati; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Celentano signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at FC Cincinnati. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutAlvas Powell knocks on the manager’s door
Newcastle United pay $14.5M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Supporters turn on the $14.5M sale of Kévin Denkey
He is going to Newcastle United, the club has $14.5M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Miles Robinson 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dylan Teves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Newcastle United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at FC Cincinnati is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Samuel Gidi 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bryan Ramírez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Evander was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and FC Cincinnati are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tim Zardes commits to FC Cincinnati for another 3 years.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mark Ferreira, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
0‑1 against Minnesota United FC, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The offer from FC Lorient for Kévin Denkey 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 that would have taken Roman Celentano to Sporting Kansas City has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to FC Cincinnati with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Sparta Prague paid $8.4M and FC Cincinnati took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Pavel Bucha has gone, the accounts have $8.4M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
FC Cincinnati ran out of time with San Jose Earthquakes. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sporting Kansas City waiting with a shirt. Nobody at FC Cincinnati is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clock did what New York City would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
FC Cincinnati close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 0 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 deal with San Jose Earthquakes 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Miles Robinson 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Brandan Craig has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means FC Cincinnati have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The offer from Karviná for Pavel Bucha 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 name of Roman Celentano has come up in conversations FC Cincinnati were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The offer went to San Jose Earthquakes 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.
Evander 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Dawid Bugaj has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means FC Cincinnati have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bryan Ramírez 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 FC Cincinnati can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.