A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. St. Gallen will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” St. Gallen may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chima Okoroji 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flamengo have kept their man, and St. Gallen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Gallen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Loris Zakaria has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tom Gaal signs something — a contract at St. Gallen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around St. Gallen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
St. Gallen asked and Olimpia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Andrea Consigli 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.
St. Gallen have made the call to Coventry City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Mouscron had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Cyrill May has left for Young Boys in a $700.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chima Okoroji 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torino have kept their man, and St. Gallen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Something was said to Malamine Efekele and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at St. Gallen 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. St. Gallen 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.
Position 3, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Christian Witzig 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.
Lukas Watkowiak has left for Lugano in a $670.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Chima Okoroji 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.
St. Gallen have made the call to Flamengo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at St. Gallen 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.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Gallen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
St. Gallen asked and Avellino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Michel Akanji is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nico Schulz 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what St. Gallen can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Rio Ave for Andrin Hunziker 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.
Lukas Görtler 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.
Add another name to the list: De Graafschap have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Francisco Bareiro. The answer from St. Gallen has not changed — yet.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Chima Okoroji 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 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 St. Gallen know it.
Lukas Görtler 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chima Okoroji is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. St. Gallen 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.
Position 3, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ceará had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Andrea Consigli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nico Schulz 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 at St. Gallen 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.
The offer from Independiente Medellin for Andrin Hunziker 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Chima Okoroji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Gallen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Silvan Comert has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Colin Kleine-Bekel 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 St. Gallen 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 Chima Okoroji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Malamine Efekele and St. Gallen agree another 4 years.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nico Schulz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” St. Gallen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nico Schulz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lukas Görtler trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Mihailo Stevanović is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. St. Gallen know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Successful dribbles: 40. 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.
Lukas Görtler and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Chima Okoroji falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at St. Gallen 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 dugoutLukas Görtler asks for a word with the manager
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Branco Salinardi did not need any: 8.35, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Gallen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chima Okoroji is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. St. Gallen told Dominik Wober something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Nico Schulz will call it something else in private.
Lukas Görtler 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Dominik Wober was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.36. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nico Schulz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Colin Kleine-Bekel will call it something else in private.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Silvan Okafor kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
11 matches without defeat, and then Basel. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Chima Okoroji 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.
Andrea Consigli and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. St. Gallen will try not to make too much of it.
Position 3, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation St. Gallen did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Branco Salinardi, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.43
A mark of 8.43 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Chima Okoroji 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.15 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Antonio Verinac did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Christian Witzig was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Nico Schulz 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.
Minute 87, against Young Boys, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Gallen 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 Chima Okoroji was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Fabian Embolo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lawrence Ati-Zigi and St. Gallen agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match3 Oct 2026
Lukas Daschner wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Lukas Daschner found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Vaduz went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Lukas Görtler 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Chima Okoroji 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Lukas Görtler is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Silvan Okafor on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Dominik Wober could not do
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nico Schulz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon St. Gallen had all but put away. Lugano will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
13 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.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. St. Gallen deserved better, and so did he.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Gallen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation St. Gallen did not have in the autumn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chima Okoroji is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Antonio Verinac has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The bid was some way short and St. Gallen did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Chima Okoroji 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.
Andrea Consigli was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrin Hunziker. 2‑0 against Zurich, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Djibril Rieder is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason St. Gallen will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Malamine Efekele reports back to St. Gallen with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 24 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Thun have kept their man, and St. Gallen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Andrea Consigli 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
Nico Schulz 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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Tiemoko Ouattara is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basel have kept their man, and St. Gallen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Christian Witzig 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. St. Gallen have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chima Okoroji is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Luzern have kept their man, and St. Gallen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. St. Gallen have done the hard part with San Lorenzo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Christian Witzig 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.
$370.0K was the most the club would pay and Young Boys were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
In brief
SquadWords at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
St. Gallen asked and Atlanta 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.
He is going to Sion, the club has $1.6M 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.
St. Gallen and Basel have settled on $90.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
$370.0K on the table at Young Boys. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Lukas Görtler 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.
Dominik Wober was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $6.7M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
In brief
SquadWords at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Player ratingsThe afternoon belonged to Dominik Wober
Successful dribbles: 44. 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 deal with Mattersburg 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.
St. Gallen offered $1.5M; Young Boys 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sion have kept their man, and St. Gallen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Christian Witzig 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at St. Gallen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Chima Okoroji 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 offer went to Mattersburg 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christian Witzig and St. Gallen agree another 4 years.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Francisco Bareiro has, at St. Gallen, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and St. Gallen are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Betim Fazliji has his answer from St. Gallen; what he does with it is the next window’s story.