From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Heidenheim, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Heidenheim may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Eric Smith and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Heidenheim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Vogt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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 dugout2 Nov 2026
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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Alexander Bauer after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Patrick Mainka. Heidenheim will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑6 by Borussia Mönchengladbach, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Eric Smith and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match24 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Heidenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Patrick Mainka, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Heidenheim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitri Payet 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Beaten 6 times, with 2 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑6 defeat, delivered by Alexander Bauer to a room that had heard them before.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heidenheim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Alessandro Vogt 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dimitri Payet, and the manager let it.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Adrian Beck knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adrian Beck trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Eric Smith was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Heidenheim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Vogt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Uwe Hofmann 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Three points for Heidenheim, 1‑0 the final word against Mainz 05 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marnon Busch, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the Heidenheim support went home talking about one name.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Heidenheim are still strangers to each other
12 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Alexander Bauer, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Dimitri Payet
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Oct 2026
“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 Heidenheim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Eric Smith and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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 Heidenheim know it.
Match3 Oct 2026
0‑1 to St. Pauli, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dimitri Payet 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tim Siersleben, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Juan Villamayor commits to Heidenheim for another 2 years.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Mathias Honsak dropped after a run of poor form
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Frank Feller decides it from twelve yards
2 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.
Match23 Sep 2026
Union Berlin go through and Heidenheim go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Heidenheim — 7.93
1 for Eric Smith, marked 7.93, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Budu Zivzivadze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Heidenheim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Vogt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Sep 2026
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Eric Smith. 1‑0 against Werder Bremen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Julian Niehues
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Heidenheim will try again when the window opens; FC Augsburg may not be selling by then.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Heidenheim
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Heidenheim are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heidenheim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Frank Feller is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Alessandro Vogt 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
VfL Wolfsburg left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Alexander Bauer left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Heidenheim have done the hard part with FC Augsburg, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clock did what Köln would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Eric Smith 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Borussia Mönchengladbach have kept their man, and Heidenheim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Patrick Mainka
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Richard Ziegler is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dimitri Payet falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Alexander Bauer after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Heidenheim have done the hard part with Köln, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
$8.3M on the table at FC Augsburg. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 17 in, 1 out at Heidenheim
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Atalanta is saying, and nobody at Heidenheim is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Patrick Mainka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Heidenheim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alessandro Vogt 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Heidenheim asked and Bologna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match5 Sep 2026
Bayer Leverkusen left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
In brief
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The dugout
No hiding place for Adrian Beck
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Squad
9 new faces, and Heidenheim are still learning each other
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Heidenheim
A 0‑3 beating by Borussia Dortmund was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market31 Aug 2026
SC Freiburg did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $8.9M for Florian Müller, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Köln have kept their man, and Heidenheim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Heidenheim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Mainz 05 come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Heidenheim did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The town asked, and Heidenheim paid $8.9M
Florian Müller was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $8.9M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alessandro Vogt 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Adrian Beck in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Heidenheim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Traoré, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at Heidenheim
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Marco Sportiello is in the works
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No deal for Mile Svilar at that price
Heidenheim offered $50.3M; AS Roma said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Heidenheim did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Heidenheim have gone to SC Freiburg 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Benoît Costil for 17 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Heidenheim will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Adrian Beck and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Heidenheim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonas Föhrenbach 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A loan move for Matthieu Epolo is in the works
Heidenheim have made the call to Standard Liege. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” René Krüger commits to Heidenheim for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
An offer of $50.3M for Mile Svilar
Heidenheim have gone to AS Roma 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from FC Augsburg for Budu Zivzivadze 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done: Eric Smith joins from St. Pauli in a deal worth $4.8M. Now comes the harder part.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Hussayn Touati gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Hussayn Touati has just signed for Heidenheim, and for once the answer mattered.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Eric Smith from St. Pauli for $4.8M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Heidenheim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alessandro Vogt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Adrian Beck 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Heidenheim asked and Palermo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Bologna have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Heidenheim did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
An offer of $4.8M for Eric Smith
Heidenheim have gone to St. Pauli 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Adrian Beck has come up in conversations Heidenheim were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Patrick Mainka and Heidenheim agree another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
Rapid Wien pay $1.1M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Budu Zivzivadze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mathias Honsak 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atalanta have kept their man, and Heidenheim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gabriel Krause 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer from SV Ried for Sirlord Conteh 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Grasshopper have kept their man, and Heidenheim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marvin Pieringer commits to Heidenheim for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Patrick Mainka 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mathias Honsak 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Leart Paçarada has come up in conversations Heidenheim were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Palermo: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Patrick Mainka knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Patrick Mainka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.