It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Sierro 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 Grasshopper game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sion runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grasshopper, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Grasshopper. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Justin Hammel
Justin Hammel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Grasshopper, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Grasshopper know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4, 25 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.
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 Michaël Frey has written the date down.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Grasshopper would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Nikolas Muci
28Edition
The Grasshopper Post
8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Sierro 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.
Grasshopper asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Grasshopper has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sion is saying, and nobody at Grasshopper is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Coventry City have kept their man, and Grasshopper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Grasshopper have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Malik Sawadogo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Grasshopper people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Luka Mikulić has gone, the accounts have $1.3M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Basel paid $1.3M and Grasshopper took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Grasshopper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Grasshopper have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Lee Young-Jun had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Justin Hammel 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 Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zenit have kept their man, and Grasshopper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Grasshopper know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Grasshopper have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Simone Stroscio was one of the reasons people came, and $2.3M does not replace that by itself.
The offer from Ceará for Lee Young-Jun 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.
Basel paid $1.9M and Grasshopper took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Justin Hammel 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michaël Frey is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Grasshopper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Grasshopper had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The name of Tim Meyer has come up in conversations Grasshopper were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Clemente is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper 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 Michaël Frey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Lee Young-Jun had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Maximilian Ullmann 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michaël Frey is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Grasshopper know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4 on 25 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 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 Pantaleo Cretì has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutRico Strieder knocks on the manager’s door
Maximilian Ullmann was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I watch every Grasshopper game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lugano runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grasshopper, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Michaël Frey has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Grasshopper have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Justin Hammel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Clemente is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Martín Espinoza Pino and Grasshopper agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Maximilian Ullmann has come out of that comparison in the side, and Grasshopper have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikolas Muci signs something — a contract at Grasshopper 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 Grasshopper 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 Michaël Frey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Grasshopper told Felix Platte something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grasshopper, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Justin Hammel 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 Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Grasshopper know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4, 25 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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Grasshopper have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Justin Hammel 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Clemente is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Sion were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Lorenzo Villa has, at Grasshopper, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Justin Hammel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Michaël Frey 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Cedric Aebischer 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. Nico Rieder 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Getting past Justin Hammel has become the hardest job in the division
12 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óscar Clemente 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 Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Michaël Frey will call it something else in private.
Something was said to Sandro Lauper and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Dirk Abels
Maximilian Ullmann 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 Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Grasshopper can tell you which week it ends in.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Getting past Justin Hammel has become the hardest job in the division
10 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Justin Hammel 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 Michaël Frey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Michaël Frey
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Renato Gavranovic has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Philipp Fassnacht is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
15 new faces, and Grasshopper 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Óscar Clemente provided it, and the 8.14 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper 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 Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikolas Muci 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.
Justin Hammel 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Michaël Frey 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Justin Hammel and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Michaël Frey
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Grasshopper has been clear about where Rico Strieder stands, which is more than many ever get.
Grasshopper ran out of time with Young Boys. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Óscar Clemente was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Maksym Zaderaka 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Granit Mvogo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fabian Comert has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Grasshopper close the window on a squad of their own making
28 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Grasshopper asked and Young Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Grasshopper did not have in the autumn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Michaël Frey 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.
Maksym Zaderaka 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sion waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Grasshopper is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Grasshopper have gone to Thun with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. St. Gallen have kept their man, and Grasshopper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Grasshopper have gone to Young Boys with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Grasshopper had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olimpia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Justin Hammel 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Clemente 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.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Grasshopper asked and DC United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Grasshopper, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Lokomotiva Zagreb for Lee Young-Jun 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Carrarese is saying, and nobody at Grasshopper is enjoying the guessing.
Justin Hammel 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.
Add another name to the list: Sion have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samuel Marques. The answer from Grasshopper has not changed — yet.
In brief
SquadÓscar Clemente falls out with a teammate over standards
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Lee Young-Jun had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.3M has been paid because Sandro Lauper is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
The offer went to Thun 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.
Grasshopper had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Estudiantes, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Sandro Lauper was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.3M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Nikolas Muci had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Grasshopper and Young Boys have settled on $1.3M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Grasshopper have done the hard part with Estudiantes, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Justin Hammel 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Óscar Clemente is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Michaël Frey. 2‑1 against St. Gallen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Maksym Zaderaka has, at Grasshopper, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Grasshopper asked and Young Boys said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The shirt still fits. Nassim Ben Khalifa is back at Grasshopper, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
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.