Andero Kaares and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jul 2033
Vlasi Baranov 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.
In brief
The dugoutAndero Kaares knocks on the manager’s door
SquadQuestions about Sergei Pikk on the training pitch
The offer from Tammeka for Andero Kaares 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FCI Tallinn have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 The request is on a desk at FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Alex Bugaj again, and this time the name on the line is Tulevik. FCI Tallinn are listening politely and promising nothing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Karol Pikk and FCI Tallinn agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Jul 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FCI Tallinn, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
FCI Tallinn and Flora have settled on $370.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Paolo Bonetti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Tallinn the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Andero Kaares 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David and FCI Tallinn agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Jul 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sillamae Kalev waiting with a shirt. Nobody at FCI Tallinn is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad27 Jun 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around FCI Tallinn people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Nomme Kalju go through and FCI Tallinn go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Andero Kaares and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Jun 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Jun 2033
Ilya Vikhrov 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 dugout13 Jun 2033
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.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Paide? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Parnu in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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 FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andero Kaares will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Tallinn 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Jun 2033
Ilya Vikhrov 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 goal that put Narva Trans ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when FCI Tallinn equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn 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 FCI Tallinn can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlasi Baranov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Narva Trans next, and one man in the FCI Tallinn dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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.
Squad23 May 2033
Ilya Vikhrov 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.
A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 May 2033
Silver Baranov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.31. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
Andero Kaares 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 May 2033
Ilya Vikhrov 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andero Kaares will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Tallinn the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Andero Kaares 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.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 May 2033
Vlasi Baranov 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.
“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 dugout9 May 2033
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 1‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andero Kaares trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Vlasi Baranov 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 Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
Half the programme played, position 6, 9 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout2 May 2033
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Flora.
Andero Kaares and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Apr 2033
Ilya Vikhrov 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 are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Sillamae Kalev? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Levadia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
11 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Vladislav Stepanenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Apr 2033
Vlasi Baranov 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 a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Andero Kaares 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.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Sillamae Kalev next, and one man in the FCI Tallinn dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Karol Pikk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andero Kaares will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Tallinn the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sergei Marin commits to FCI Tallinn for another 3 years.
Squad11 Apr 2033
Ilya Vikhrov 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 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.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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 Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad4 Apr 2033
A place in the month's best eleven for Karl Ojamaa
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Karl Ojamaa has come out of that comparison in the side, and FCI Tallinn have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at FCI Tallinn has been clear about where Nikita Doroshko stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout4 Apr 2033
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the FCI Tallinn dressing room was either.
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.
FCI Tallinn interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FCI Tallinn can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlasi Baranov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Narva Trans in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
The dugoutKarl Ojamaa dropped after a run of poor form
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Silver Baranov provided it, and the 8.81 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 FCI Tallinn 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 Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andero Kaares, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Mar 2033
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 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 FCI Tallinn they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Klaidi Tershalla scored, was marked 7.40, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Andero Kaares 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.
13 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad14 Mar 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 Mar 2033
6 academy players handed senior numbers at FCI Tallinn
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.
Squad7 Mar 2033
Vlasi Baranov 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. Erik Puri 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.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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 Feb 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.
Andero Kaares 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 Ilya Vikhrov 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 Ilya Vikhrov is on it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andero Kaares will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Tallinn 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tammeka have kept their man, and FCI Tallinn go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Feb 2033
Vlasi Baranov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn 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.
That is the business done at FCI Tallinn 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ivan Sanko reports back to FCI Tallinn with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Vlasi Baranov 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 Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. FCI Tallinn will try again when the window opens; Flora may not be selling by then.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andero Kaares trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around FCI Tallinn people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Andero Kaares and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Jan 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn 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 FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Andero Kaares 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FCI Tallinn can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
“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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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.
Squad10 Jan 2033
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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 name of Ivan Sanko has come up in conversations FCI Tallinn were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlasi Baranov 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 Ebrima Jatta is on it.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Vladislav Stepanenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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 easiest signature of my career.” Mirko Castagnini and FCI Tallinn agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Andero Kaares 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andero Kaares will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around FCI Tallinn 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 David is on it.
Vlasi Baranov 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 Ilya Vikhrov 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 Ebrima Jatta is on it.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Andero Kaares 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 Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; FCI Tallinn 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 Vlasi Baranov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FCI Tallinn is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Vlasi Baranov 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 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and FCI Tallinn know now that the thought has arrived.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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.
Squad8 Nov 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 Ebrima Jatta is on it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at FCI Tallinn would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Thomas Davies trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn 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 Vlasi Baranov 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FCI Tallinn is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlasi Baranov 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 Mihkel Dmitrijev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2032
Vlasi Baranov 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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
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 Ebrima Jatta 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 FCI Tallinn, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2032
Ebrima Jatta 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 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 Alex Bugaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Mirko Castagnini is on it.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marek Kait 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 Ivan Sanko 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 FCI Tallinn they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FCI Tallinn can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ebrima Jatta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. FCI Tallinn will try again when the window opens; Flora may not be selling by then.
In brief
The dugoutDavid has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutThomas Davies knocks on the manager's door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Vlasi Baranov 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.
Squad13 Sep 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ebrima Jatta 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.
FCI Tallinn ran out of time with Flora. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edoardo Biffi, and the manager let it.
Market13 Sep 2032
The window shut and Andero Kaares is still in the building
FCI Tallinn spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Flora have accepted the money. What FCI Tallinn do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom6 Sep 2032
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at FCI Tallinn 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.
Andero Kaares 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.
Squad6 Sep 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. FCI Tallinn will try again when the window opens; Flora may not be selling by then.
With 4 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
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 Ilya Vikhrov is on it.
FCI Tallinn and Flora have settled on $120.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Andero Kaares 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 Vlasi Baranov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FCI Tallinn is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FCI Tallinn have done the hard part with Flora, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Vlasi Baranov 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 Sergei Marin 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 FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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.
FCI Tallinn asked and Flora said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Vlasi Baranov 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.
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 Ebrima Jatta 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 FCI Tallinn, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Andero Kaares 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Klaidi Tershalla commits to FCI Tallinn for another 4 years.
Squad9 Aug 2032
Vlasi Baranov 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. Mihkel Dmitrijev 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Konstantin Baranov 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Martin Kruglov 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 FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Klaidi Tershalla and FCI Tallinn agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Aug 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FCI Tallinn have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FCI Tallinn have done the hard part with Flora, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flora have kept their man, and FCI Tallinn go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2032
Ilya Vikhrov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Vlasi Baranov 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 FCI Tallinn know it.
Squad19 Jul 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Bugaj 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.
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 Marek Kruglov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The offer from Tammeka for Andero Kaares 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 targets12 Jul 2032
$500.0K settles it between the clubs for Andreas Vaher
Flora have accepted the money. What FCI Tallinn do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FCI Tallinn lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Andero Kaares 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.
Andero Kaares scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Levadia, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad5 Jul 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergei Igonen has just signed for FCI Tallinn, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad28 Jun 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Sillamae Kalev were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
A 1‑0 win over Sillamae Kalev, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FCI Tallinn lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nomme Kalju go through and FCI Tallinn 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.
The deal with Flora is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. FCI Tallinn will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Vlasi Baranov 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Alex Bugaj 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.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn 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 FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
$620.0K settles it between the clubs for Andreas Vaher
Flora have accepted the money. What FCI Tallinn do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 words a physio says slowly. 46 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Andero Kaares 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 Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Karol Pikk has come out of that comparison in the side, and FCI Tallinn have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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 Ebrima Jatta is on it.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Vlasi Baranov 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 Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; FCI Tallinn are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FCI Tallinn lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Andero Kaares’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to FCI Tallinn.
Squad24 May 2032
Vlasi Baranov 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
“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 FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Andero Kaares 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 FCI Tallinn can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad17 May 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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 words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
Vladislav Stepanenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FCI Tallinn lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings3 May 2032
A brace, and Andero Kaares takes the afternoon — 9.13
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andero Kaares provided it, and the 9.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about FCI Tallinn and Levadia in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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: Andero Kaares. 3‑2 against Sillamae Kalev, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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 words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
“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 FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marek Kruglov, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” the manager was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the FCI Tallinn dressing room was either.
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Position 8 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Andero Kaares 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.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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. Ebrima Jatta 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.
109 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.” Karol Pikk and FCI Tallinn agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout5 Apr 2032
the manager answers for it
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Karl Dmitrijev 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.
In brief
The dugoutEbrima Jatta has become a man the manager trusts
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FCI Tallinn lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Vlasi Baranov 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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 19 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.
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; FCI Tallinn are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad22 Mar 2032
Vlasi Baranov 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.
“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 dugout22 Mar 2032
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 the manager left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutIlya Vikhrov has become a man the manager trusts
130 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FCI Tallinn lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Andero Kaares will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at FCI Tallinn escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
“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 FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at FCI Tallinn can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The words a physio says slowly. 137 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.
0‑5 to Flora, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Martin Sorga 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sergei Pikk 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 words a physio says slowly. 144 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.
“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 FCI Tallinn, 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 FCI Tallinn 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Andero Kaares’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and FCI Tallinn needing him to play as if none of it matters.
151 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FCI Tallinn lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Feb 2032
Ilya Vikhrov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn 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.
Vlasi Baranov 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 Feb 2032
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.
Andero Kaares 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.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Vlasi Baranov 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 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 Alex Bugaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 1 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Feb 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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.
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 Mirko Castagnini is on it.
Vlasi Baranov 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Ilya Vikhrov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The 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.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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.
Squad19 Jan 2032
Vlasi Baranov 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 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and FCI Tallinn know which stage they are at.
The deal with Flora is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Andero Kaares 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.
FCI Tallinn asked and Flora said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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; FCI Tallinn are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Ilya Vikhrov 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.
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 Ebrima Jatta is on it.
Vlasi Baranov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Marek Kruglov 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.
He is 19, and nobody at FCI Tallinn signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rauno Dmitrijev and FCI Tallinn agree another 3 years.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation FCI Tallinn are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlasi Baranov 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.
63 graduates, from a department now rated 3 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
Andero Kaares and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Vlasi Baranov 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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergei Marin 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Dec 2031
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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 Vlasi Baranov 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 Ilya Vikhrov is on it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at FCI Tallinn would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Vlasi Baranov 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Martin Ainsalu is a FCI Tallinn player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Andero Kaares 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.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 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.
Ebrima Jatta 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.
“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; FCI Tallinn are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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.
Vlasi Baranov 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 Sergei Marin 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 Ilya Vikhrov is on it.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 Ebrima Jatta is on 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FCI Tallinn will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kirill Chernyak and FCI Tallinn agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Vlasi Baranov 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.
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 Ilya Vikhrov is on it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at FCI Tallinn has been clear about where Samuel Xhafkollari stands, which is more than many ever get.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joonas Liivak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlasi Baranov 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.” Konstantin Liivak and FCI Tallinn agree another 3 years.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FCI Tallinn will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ebrima Jatta 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 Vlasi Baranov 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FCI Tallinn, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Edoardo Biffi are not good
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FCI Tallinn will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and FCI Tallinn know now that the thought has arrived.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FCI Tallinn will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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 FCI Tallinn know it.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Vlasi Baranov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
That is the business done at FCI Tallinn 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.
Vladislav Stepanenko 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 clock did what Flora would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlasi Baranov 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Rauno Kait 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Konstantin Liivak is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
FCI Tallinn and Flora have settled on $100.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Nobody at FCI Tallinn 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.