It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HIFK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Albin Ekdal 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 fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Petteri Hamalainen 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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at HIFK would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HIFK lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
$930.0K on the table at FC Lahti. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HIFK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
HIFK offered $4.0K; Ilves said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. HIFK will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HIFK lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at HIFK, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yassin Adam 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.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HIFK lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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: Simon van Duivenbooden from VPS for $1.6M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albin Ekdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. HIFK know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
In brief
The dugoutCarlos Ohene knocks on the manager’s door
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HIFK 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 HIFK, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to VPS 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.
Albin Ekdal 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.
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: Olavi Keturi from VPS for $140.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lassi Hoskonen is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. HIFK lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HIFK 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 Mihailo Bogićević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at HIFK, another week without a signature from Mihailo Bogićević.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HIFK lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albin Ekdal 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.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. HIFK lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albin Ekdal 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.
Albin Ekdal 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Teemu Pukki is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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 standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albin Ekdal 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.
Aatu Kujanpää 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.
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. Joonas Pyhälä has moved up it.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albin Ekdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aatu Kujanpää 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.
Albin Ekdal 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 had been thinking. Mihailo Bogićević 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Carlos Ohene trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Miska Peltola has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albin Ekdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tomi Kurvinen 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. Teemu Hradecky is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Aleksi Sparv 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HIFK 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 Mihailo Bogićević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and HIFK know which stage they are at.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at HIFK, another week without a signature from Mihailo Bogićević.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Juho Forss 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albin Ekdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aatu Kujanpää 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.
Albin Ekdal 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.
Albin Ekdal was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Rico Finnäs 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at HIFK. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albin Ekdal 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.
Aatu Kujanpää 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. Jasse Karjalainen 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Urho Taylor 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. HIFK know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albin Ekdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
5 new faces, and HIFK 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.
In brief
The dugoutCarlos Ohene knocks on the manager’s door
Albin Ekdal 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 Rico Finnäs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at HIFK. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Albin Ekdal 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 Alexander Milošević 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 Tomi Kurvinen 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 HIFK 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 Albin Ekdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yiandro Raap 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. Mikael Arajuuri is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Markku Lod 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.
Albin Ekdal and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Rico Finnäs 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.
17 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Miska Peltola
Albin Ekdal and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rico Finnäs 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albin Ekdal 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.
Tomi Kurvinen 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 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 HIFK will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around HIFK they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Aatu Kujanpää has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HIFK 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Leo Lod 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. Atte Valakari is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at HIFK has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albin Ekdal 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.
Yiandro Raap 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Yassin Adam 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.
16 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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
6 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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at HIFK can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Albin Ekdal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tomi Kurvinen 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.
“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 dugout31 Aug 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Juha Hakola to a room that had heard them before.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation HIFK are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
IFK Mariehamn go through and HIFK go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
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.
Albin Ekdal 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 Alexander Milošević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.57, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The bid was some way short and HIFK did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
HIFK close the window on a squad of their own making
20 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. HIFK have done the hard part with Ilves, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
HIFK had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Koper, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at HIFK this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rico Finnäs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Albin Ekdal 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.
Tomi Kurvinen 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tim Hamalainen 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Joel Hamalainen 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. Mikael Huuhka is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikolai Hamalainen 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. HIFK know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
14 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Mihailo Bogićević has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means HIFK have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rico Finnäs is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Anwar Abdi 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.
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Juha Hakola to a room that had heard them before.