128 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Flamurtari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flamurtari can pretend not to have heard.
Cristian Núñez 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 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Igor Aleksovski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 135 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jacques Mbé 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Flamurtari told Christ Evo Ememe something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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 year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Flamurtari would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
142 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Flamurtari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lorenc Trashi and Flamurtari agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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 Flamurtari 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Mbé signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 149 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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.
“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 dugout1 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Igor Aleksovski'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.
This is not rotation. Hetem Lushaj has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitris Chantakias 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 Cristian Núñez 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 Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Momčilo Rašo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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; Flamurtari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nobody at Flamurtari 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.
28 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitris Chantakias 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Mbé signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Flamurtari. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
“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 Flamurtari will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
In brief
The dugoutAntonio Aliaj knocks on the manager's door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Flamurtari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari 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 Dimitris Chantakias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
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.
Jacques Mbé 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 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 Nimet Spahiu has written the date down.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Momčilo Rašo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jacques Mbé 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.
This is not rotation. João Urbáez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitris Chantakias 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 Lorenc Trashi is on it.
Position 4 on 28 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Flamurtari would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Aliaj will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jacques Mbé and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitris Chantakias 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Mbé signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Flamurtari who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Pereowei Magbisa has come out of that comparison in the side, and Flamurtari have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Nobody at Flamurtari 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.
4 appearances and 2 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Flamurtari no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Flamurtari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitris Chantakias 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 Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Cristian Núñez 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 Dimitris Chantakias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Lorenc Trashi is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dimitris Chantakias trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 4, 28 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Aliaj will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Flamurtari know it.
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 would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fjoraldo Bejdollari is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacques Mbé signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Flamurtari until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ariol Kaloshi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Flamurtari will try again when the window opens; Tirana may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitris Chantakias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Flamurtari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gor Mahia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Lorenc Trashi
Jacques Mbé 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 Dimitris Chantakias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
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.” Mohannad Daci, 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jacques Mbé 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.
This is not rotation. João Urbáez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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 Flamurtari 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.
Position 4 on 28 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 28 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Vllaznia Shkodër waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flamurtari can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Nobody at Flamurtari 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ariol Kaloshi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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; Flamurtari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitris Chantakias 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Flamurtari have had the benefit 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 Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Redi Kasa 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.
Teuta Durrës next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Redi Kasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout27 Dec 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Mohannad Daci to a room that had heard them before.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Flamurtari pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Jacques Mbé and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
8.16. 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitris Chantakias 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 Flamurtari 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 dugoutThe manager makes an example of Ledion Shera
Position 2, 24 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flamurtari can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Jacques Mbé 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 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Antonio Aliaj will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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. 12 actions, 7.10, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitris Chantakias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Alex Peralta
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Momčilo Rašo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Redi Kasa 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 Igor Aleksovski, and the manager let it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
William Baeten was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.59. 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Todor Todoroski, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Mohannad Daci left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hizdion Sulejmani 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alex Peralta’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Flamurtari needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 2, 18 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Cristian Núñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitris Chantakias 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.
Kukësi next, and one man in the Flamurtari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Flamurtari has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Flamurtari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
5 goals in 15 games at Gor Mahia — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Flamurtari updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Flamurtari know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitris Chantakias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Redi Kasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 combined actions and 7.10. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mohannad Daci was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Flamurtari dressing room was either.
Jacques Mbé 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 Redi Kasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match23 Oct 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Flamurtari. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Mohannad Daci could afford to be generous.
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad25 Oct 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Flamurtari man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that William Baeten was the best thing in any of them.
Position 2, 13 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jacques Mbé 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 Dimitris Chantakias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Redi Kasa’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Flamurtari 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 William Baeten signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.32 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lorenc Trashi and Flamurtari agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Redi Kasa 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.
10 combined actions and 7.00. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Cristian Núñez 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 Redi Kasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ariol Kaloshi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Cristian Núñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Léo Melo. 1‑0 against Vllaznia Shkodër, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Partizani Tirana next, and one man in the Flamurtari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Flamurtari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutAlex Peralta knocks on the manager's door
“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 Flamurtari, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari 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 Redi Kasa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Flamurtari saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Flamurtari will try again when the window opens; Dinamo City may not be selling by then.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Léo Melo. 1‑0 against Bylis, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Flamurtari, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal that would have taken Alex Peralta to Luftëtari has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Flamurtari with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Momčilo Rašo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Flamurtari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Flamurtari until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The offer went to Dinamo City 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Flamurtari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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.
Jacques Mbé 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alerio Xhafkollari is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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 Flamurtari, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Flamurtari have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The name of Alex Peralta has come up in conversations Flamurtari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Flamurtari, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Ariol Kaloshi has come up in conversations Flamurtari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Bjori Doku 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 Aug 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo 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.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Alex Peralta has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AF Elbasani waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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; Flamurtari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Blerim Kotobelli and Flamurtari agree another 2 years.
Position 5, 31 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Cristian Núñez 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Blerim Kotobelli commits to Flamurtari for another 2 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo 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 a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Hamza Ramani has moved up it.
In brief
The dugoutAlex Peralta knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Flamurtari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Jacques Mbé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Alex Peralta has come up in conversations Flamurtari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Momčilo Rašo 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Redi Kasa signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Ariol Kaloshi has come up in conversations Flamurtari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Flamurtari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Momčilo Rašo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Vllaznia Shkodër will make the call about Ariol Kaloshi this week. Flamurtari have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Add another name to the list: Egnatia Rrogozhinë have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Stivian Janku. The answer from Flamurtari has not changed — yet.
“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 Flamurtari know it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Momčilo Rašo 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.
5 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.
Something was said to João Urbáez and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamza Ramani is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Redi Kasa signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Flamurtari have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bjori Doku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Momčilo Rašo 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AF Elbasani waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jacques Mbé and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hizdion Sulejmani and Flamurtari agree another 4 years.
Position 5, 31 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Hizdion Sulejmani arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
In brief
The dugoutAlex Peralta knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Jacques Mbé 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 Jun 2027
Redi Kasa 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Something was said to Dimitris Chantakias and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Flamurtari have had the benefit of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ariol Kaloshi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jacques Mbé 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 Alex Peralta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Flamurtari, 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 Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hetem Lushaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Momčilo Rašo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
31 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
A few words of the language, a friend at the next peg, and a training ground that has stopped feeling foreign. Nothing measurable, and everything visible on Saturdays.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Stivian Janku was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
7 appearances at Kastrioti Krujë and the goals have stopped going in. Flamurtari lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ariol Kaloshi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jacques Mbé 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 Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Flamurtari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kastrioti Krujë runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari 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 Momčilo Rašo 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 Alex Peralta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari 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 William Baeten signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5 on 31 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Peralta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jacques Mbé 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 Apr 2027
Momčilo Rašo 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. Flamurtari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
4 clean sheets from 7 appearances at Kastrioti Krujë. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Jacques Mbé 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 Apr 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Flamurtari, and 7 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Flamurtari. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Flamurtari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cristian Núñez signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Flamurtari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Flamurtari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until William Baeten signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5, 31 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pereowei Magbisa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alex Peralta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jacques Mbé 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 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 Flamurtari know it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Flamurtari has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jacques Mbé 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 Flamurtari know it.
“I watch every Flamurtari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kastrioti Krujë runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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; Flamurtari 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 Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cristian Núñez signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Flamurtari they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
54 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until William Baeten signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
31 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Cristian Núñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The phone has started ringing about Pereowei Magbisa again, and this time the name on the line is Sportist Svoge. Flamurtari are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Flamurtari has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Flamurtari know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
4 shut-outs in 7 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Fjoraldo Bejdollari has been having a lot of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hamza Ramani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AF Elbasani waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Flamurtari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flamurtari can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Redi Kasa 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.” Pereowei Magbisa and Flamurtari agree another 4 years.
“I watch every Flamurtari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kastrioti Krujë runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Flamurtari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Flamurtari until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“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 Flamurtari know it.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Cristian Núñez, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Momčilo Rašo 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Something was said to Dimitris Chantakias and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Flamurtari than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sportist Svoge waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Flamurtari is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flamurtari can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Momčilo Rašo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flamurtari the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Léo Melo has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Flamurtari will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Flamurtari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Léo Melo provided it, and the 8.61 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Jacques Mbé was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The phone has started ringing about Pereowei Magbisa again, and this time the name on the line is Sportist Svoge. Flamurtari are listening politely and promising nothing.
13 combined actions and 7.42. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Flamurtari people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Flamurtari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Flamurtari can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Pogradeci for Ariol Kaloshi 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.
Jacques Mbé 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Flamurtari is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
30 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Bylis had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Flamurtari did not stop to explain themselves.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Flamurtari had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The name of Alex Peralta has come up in conversations Flamurtari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Redi Kasa 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.
Teuta Durrës next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
“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 Flamurtari, 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 Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Redi Kasa 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 finished 1‑0, and it was Léo Melo’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Flamurtari.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Todor Todoroski was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Mohannad Daci could afford to be generous.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Hetem Lushaj will call it something else in private.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Freeman Pius
The dugoutHetem Lushaj dropped after a run of poor form
“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 Flamurtari, and it is not being withdrawn.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Flamurtari had all but put away. Dinamo City will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Igor Aleksovski knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Jacques Mbé 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.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mohannad Daci was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Flamurtari dressing room was either.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Flamurtari, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
7.94, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Flamurtari had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Momčilo Rašo 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Christ Evo Ememe has come out of that comparison in the side, and Flamurtari have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
12 combined actions and 7.15. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Flamurtari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kukësi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Jacques Mbé 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Flamurtari will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
7.36, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Flamurtari had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Lorenc Trashi'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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mohannad Daci chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Marked 4.42. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Cristian Núñez 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 Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against AF Elbasani in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Momčilo Rašo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Léo Melo provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Half the programme played, position 2, 18 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Kastrioti Krujë to sit and watch. I want to come back to Flamurtari and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Mohannad Daci could afford to be generous.
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Flamurtari will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
10 combined actions and 6.97. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Flamurtari will try not to make too much of it.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. Teuta Durrës had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Flamurtari, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Position 2, 14 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.
There were 86 minutes on the clock and Bylis had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Flamurtari did not stop to explain themselves.
Jacques Mbé 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Momčilo Rašo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Jacques Mbé 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Pereowei Magbisa 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mohannad Daci on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hamza Ramani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Flamurtari, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
A side in position 9 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Flamurtari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
132% of the income goes out in wages at Flamurtari
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Flamurtari have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Léo Melo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Flamurtari have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Flamurtari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Dinamo City go through and Flamurtari go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“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; Flamurtari are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Cristian Núñez 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.
Partizani Tirana held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Flamurtari answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.79, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mohannad Daci after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Flamurtari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Cristian Núñez 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.
A 1‑1 draw with Vllaznia Shkodër leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mohannad Daci chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
“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 Flamurtari will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Flamurtari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Léo Melo. 3‑2 against Egnatia Rrogozhinë, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Flamurtari ran out of time with Partizani Tirana. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“I watch every Flamurtari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kastrioti Krujë runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Flamurtari lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have shaken hands with Partizani Tirana; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 4 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 Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Blerim Kotobelli has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hamza Ramani 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.
2 academy players handed senior numbers at Flamurtari
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Partizani Tirana have kept their man, and Flamurtari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Jacques Mbé 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Murselo Ismajli has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ledion Shera has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Mohannad Daci could afford to be generous.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Momčilo Rašo 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.
In brief
BoardroomFlamurtari turn down the training-ground plan
Jacques Mbé 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Flamurtari training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Momčilo Rašo 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 Flamurtari has been clear about where Momčilo Rašo stands, which is more than many ever get.
AF Elbasani next, and one man in the Flamurtari dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Flamurtari, another week without a signature from Freeman Pius.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nimet Spahiu has, at Flamurtari, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Jacques Mbé and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Momčilo Rašo 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Flamurtari 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.
Rezart Sefa is 20, and Flamurtari have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cristian Núñez signs something — a contract at Flamurtari or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Cristian Núñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Bjori Doku has come up in conversations Flamurtari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Flamurtari would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Flamurtari can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Flamurtari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Momčilo Rašo 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.