A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Motor Lublin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Radomiak Radom for Kacper Szymanek 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Add another name to the list: Puszcza Niepołomice have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Michał Musik. The answer from Motor Lublin has not changed — yet.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Motor Lublin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Motor Lublin can pretend not to have heard.
Ivo Rodrigues and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Brkić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Osijek have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sebastian Blaszczykowski is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rafal Lewandowski is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Motor Lublin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Motor Lublin, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal that would have taken Michał Król to Znicz Pruszków has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Motor Lublin with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Thomas Santos 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Viktoria Plzen have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Motor Lublin have made the call to Piast. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Motor Lublin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Add another name to the list: Znicz Pruszków have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Michał Król. The answer from Motor Lublin has not changed — yet.
Thomas Santos 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Motor Lublin have made the call to Bruk-Bet Termalica. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Motor Lublin, another week without a signature from Bartosz Wolski.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Motor Lublin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Motor Lublin
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Universitatea Craiova keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Brkić 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.
Motor Lublin asked and Metalist said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Motor Lublin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Piast have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A loan enquiry to Universitatea Craiova: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Thomas Santos 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 Jun 2028
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Motor Lublin have made the call to Cracovia. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bartosz Wolski 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 Michał Król has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Motor Lublin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Lech for Mbaye N'Diaye 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 number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $170.0K — a club that wants Kuba Bochniarz enough to be asked twice.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$150.0K on the table at Chrobry Głogów. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$150.0K on the table at Pogon. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The fee is $160.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Chrobry Głogów drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The chase for Raphaël Gaudel ended with $140.0K changing hands and Puszcza Niepołomice out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
In brief
SquadIvan Brkić falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Michał Król
Motor Lublin interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Dawid Piszczek keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Motor Lublin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
$160.0K settles it between the clubs for Tommy Neale
Chrobry Głogów have accepted the money. What Motor Lublin do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Motor Lublin, 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 Motor Lublin 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Motor Lublin has been clear about where Mbaye N'Diaye stands, which is more than many ever get.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Motor Lublin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces29 May 2028
Supporters organise against the Motor Lublin board
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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Franciszek Lewandowski and Motor Lublin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 149 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Thomas Santos 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 Robert Ljubičić 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 Kacper Karasek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Motor Lublin 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.
In brief
BoardroomThe Motor Lublin production line keeps running
Thomas Santos 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.
14 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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 Kacper Karasek trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Motor Lublin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Motor Lublin has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Motor Lublin. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Robert Ljubičić plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Motor Lublin
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Ivo Rodrigues 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 bill for the sacking has arrived. Marcin Linetty leaves with $93.6K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
Nothing resets a career like somebody arriving who did not pick the side last season. Robert Ljubičić has taken the hint, and Motor Lublin are getting a version of him the previous regime had stopped seeing.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Motor Lublin would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugoutChinedu Ekene knocks on the manager's door
92Edition
The Motor Lublin Chronicle
1 May 2028
From our football correspondentSteady
The terraces1 May 2028
The mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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 Robert Ljubičić 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 Bartosz Wolski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Motor Lublin would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Thomas Santos 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bartosz Wolski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Motor Lublin 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Motor Lublin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thomas Santos 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Motor Lublin 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.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Motor Lublin
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Marcin Linetty to a room that had heard them before.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Motor Lublin can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roberto Alves commits to Motor Lublin for another 3 years.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Motor Lublin is running low.
Thomas Santos 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 Mar 2028
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karol Czubak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Motor Lublin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Florian Haxha has written the date down.
They sit in position 11 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
Thomas Santos 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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 earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Marcin Linetty on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chinedu Ekene, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Michał Król
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Motor Lublin told Szymon Szkliński something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
The terracesEverybody has an opinion about Ivan Brkić
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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Wisla Krakow scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Thomas Santos 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 Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kacper Karasek. 2‑1 against Puszcza Niepołomice, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.26 — 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Marcin Linetty could afford to be generous.
Thomas Santos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Michał Król
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Motor Lublin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Kacper Karasek decided nobody was going anywhere. Pogon had no time left to answer.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Motor Lublin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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 mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Marcin Linetty has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Olaf Kobacki has, at Motor Lublin, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Motor Lublin 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.
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Motor Lublin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Motor Lublin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Thomas Santos 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 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.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Motor Lublin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Thomas Santos 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KAA Gent have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Motor Lublin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
7.95, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin 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 Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Motor Lublin asked and Wisła Płock said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zaglebie have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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.” Marcin Linetty after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Gornik Leczna have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Motor Lublin are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“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 Motor Lublin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Polonia Bytom have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin 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 Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Squad27 Dec 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Motor Lublin man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Ivo Rodrigues was the best thing in any of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dawid Bugaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thomas Santos 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
5 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.
Thomas Santos 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 Dec 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Half the programme played, position 13, 17 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 easiest signature of my career.” Damian Kądzior and Motor Lublin agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bartosz Wolski 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 Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Thomas Santos 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 92, against Piast, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Supporters organise against the Motor Lublin board
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.
Thomas Santos 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 Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Piast next, and one man in the Motor Lublin dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Motor Lublin has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Motor Lublin, another week without a signature from Filip Wolski.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Robert Ljubičić was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
Everybody at Motor Lublin saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Wisla Krakow will replay every second of the added time for a week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Marked 8.53 — 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Florian Haxha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Motor Lublin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thomas Santos 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 Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Motor Lublin can tell you which week it ends in.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Michał Król
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
Thomas Santos 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 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.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Ivo Rodrigues falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
5 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Motor Lublin told Filip Luberecki something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bartosz Wolski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Joel Pereira arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
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 Mikołaj Łabojko has written the date down.
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Pogon scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Damian Kądzior and Motor Lublin agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Filip Luberecki has come out of that comparison in the side, and Motor Lublin have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Florian Haxha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Motor Lublin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Thomas Santos 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.55, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Kacper Karasek was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Something was said to Robert Ljubičić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Supporters organise against the Motor Lublin board
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Thomas Santos 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Franciszek Lewandowski and Motor Lublin agree another 4 years.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Marcin Linetty could afford to be generous.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Paris Saint-Germain keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kacper Wełniak commits to Motor Lublin for another 4 years.
Squad13 Sep 2027
8 new faces, and Motor Lublin 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.
“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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Filip Wolski
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Motor Lublin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Motor Lublin can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 12 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Shakhtar keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robert Ljubičić 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.
Motor Lublin asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Everything agreed with Paris Saint-Germain, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Thomas Santos 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 fee is $140.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Olivier Wypart is living that version at Motor Lublin, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
The mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
Motor Lublin and Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki have settled on $140.0K. 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Shakhtar is saying, and nobody at Motor Lublin is enjoying the guessing.
Thomas Santos 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 Robert Ljubičić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PAOK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
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 words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Motor Lublin is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
8 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.
1 for Robert Ljubičić, marked 7.61, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wieczysta Kraków wanted more than $68.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
In brief
SquadIvo Rodrigues falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Michał Musik has just signed for Motor Lublin, and for once the answer mattered.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kacper Karasek and Motor Lublin agree another 4 years.
The chase for Michał Musik ended with $250.0K changing hands and Stal Rzeszów out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Thomas Santos 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 offer went to Wieczysta Kraków 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.
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.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Motor Lublin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Shakhtar keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Thomas Santos 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Motor Lublin
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Motor Lublin asked and Sparta Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Motor Lublin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wieczysta Kraków have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Motor Lublin have made the call to Shakhtar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivo Rodrigues trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Motor Lublin 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 Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Arka Gdynia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Florian Haxha. The answer from Motor Lublin has not changed — yet.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basaksehir have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Motor Lublin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Motor Lublin is running low.
“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 Motor Lublin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Motor Lublin had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sparta Prague, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Thomas Santos 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 shirt still fits. Damian Kądzior is back at Motor Lublin, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Motor Lublin asked and Zaglebie said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targetsA loan move for Juan Otero is in the works
48Edition
The Motor Lublin Chronicle
28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondentUneasy
The terraces28 Jun 2027
The mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
The chase for Mikołaj Łabojko ended with $370.0K changing hands and Polonia Bytom out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Thomas Santos 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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Motor Lublin have made the call to Sparta Prague. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Motor Lublin are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
The dugoutJakub Łabojko knocks on the manager’s door
Motor Lublin offered $59.0K; Odra Opole 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Raków Częstochowa have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Ivo Rodrigues suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Motor Lublin have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Renat Dadaşov signs something — a contract at Motor Lublin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Michał Król has written the date down.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Motor Lublin
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Mbaye N'Diaye
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chrobry Głogów waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Motor Lublin is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The fee is $270.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Odra Opole drove a hard bargain; time will say who won 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 Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Motor Lublin asked and CFR Cluj said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Viktoria Plzen: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Motor Lublin will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Motor Lublin interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Marcin Linetty keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
“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 Motor Lublin, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Gornik Zabrze 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.
Thomas Santos 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Motor Lublin asked and Wieczysta Kraków said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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. Ivo Rodrigues has moved up it.
BoardroomOpen for business: Motor Lublin enter the window
44Edition
The Motor Lublin Chronicle
31 May 2027
From our football correspondentUneasy
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Motor Lublin have had the benefit of it.
Thomas Santos 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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 Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Ronaldo 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 Ivo Rodrigues trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Renat Dadaşov signs something — a contract at Motor Lublin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Motor Lublin will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mbaye N'Diaye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Motor Lublin 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 Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Fábio Ronaldo 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 Motor Lublin. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Thomas Santos 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.
9 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
The terraces3 May 2027
The mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“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; Marcin Linetty recited it perfectly.
Thomas Santos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 May 2027
Fábio Ronaldo 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 bill for the sacking has arrived. Jan Grosicki leaves with $90.0K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
The dugout3 May 2027
Fábio Ronaldo is playing like a man with something to prove
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Fábio Ronaldo is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Motor Lublin is running low.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakub Łabojko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Motor Lublin has been clear about where Filip Wójcik stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Florian Haxha's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
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 Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Renat Dadaşov signs something — a contract at Motor Lublin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Motor Lublin. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Motor Lublin
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Motor Lublin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Motor Lublin told Chinedu Ekene something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Motor Lublin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
5 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.
Thomas Santos 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 2027
Jakub Łabojko 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 Hervé Matthys is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Motor Lublin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Motor Lublin can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
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.
Thomas Santos 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 Jakub Łabojko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Motor Lublin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Motor Lublin 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Korona.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Florian Haxha is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Bartosz Wolski is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Motor Lublin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Ronaldo 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.
Something was said to Gleiker Mendoza and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Thomas Santos 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 Fábio Ronaldo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑1 draw with Piast leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Jan Grosicki was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Motor Lublin dressing room was either.
Nobody at Motor Lublin 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Thomas Santos 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Brkić, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Jan Grosicki 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 Hervé Matthys 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 Motor Lublin 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 Fábio Ronaldo 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.
A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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.” Jan Grosicki kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Gleiker Mendoza has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gleiker Mendoza provided it, and the 9.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Motor Lublin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Gornik Zabrze were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gleiker Mendoza. 3‑2 against Gornik Zabrze, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Ronaldo 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 version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.87, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Jan Grosicki, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Thomas Santos 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Odra Opole have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jan Grosicki has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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.
5 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.
Chances created: 18. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Supporters organise against the Motor Lublin board
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Motor Lublin can pretend not to have heard.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Motor Lublin 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Motor Lublin have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Motor Lublin can pretend not to have heard.
Polonia Bytom paid $710.0K and Motor Lublin took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. Arka Gdynia had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Thomas Santos 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 Fábio Ronaldo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Mbaye N'Diaye again, and this time the name on the line is Piast. Motor Lublin are listening politely and promising nothing.
Marked 8.48 — 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.
The offer from Raków Częstochowa for Renat Dadaşov 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.
Marek Bartoš has gone, the accounts have $590.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Motor Lublin can pretend not to have heard.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Thomas Santos 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 run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Legia paid $590.0K and Motor Lublin took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Karol Czubak and Motor Lublin agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Fábio Ronaldo 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 mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Motor Lublin will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Motor Lublin asked and Arka Gdynia 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 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.
Thomas Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Fábio Ronaldo 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.
A 1‑0 win over Bruk-Bet Termalica, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Karol Czubak was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Jan Grosicki, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Thomas Santos and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Fábio Ronaldo 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.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Motor Lublin dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
In brief
The dugoutBartosz Wolski has become a man the manager trusts
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Wisła Płock kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Motor Lublin will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
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.
Thomas Santos 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mbaye N'Diaye 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bartosz Wolski and Motor Lublin agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The mood at Motor Lublin has turned into something else
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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Motor Lublin
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Ronaldo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fábio Ronaldo 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; Motor Lublin are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Thomas Santos 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: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Jan Grosicki left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Bartosz Wolski is on it.
Thomas Santos 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
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Ronaldo 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 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 Michał Król has written the date down.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Motor Lublin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Next up on the road: Cracovia, position 5. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin 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 Fábio Ronaldo 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.” Jan Grosicki after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fábio Ronaldo signs something — a contract at Motor Lublin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Motor Lublin that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Nobody at Motor Lublin is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Motor Lublin had all but put away. Lechia will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Chinedu Ekene and Motor Lublin agree another 4 years.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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 figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Motor Lublin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Thomas Santos 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 Oct 2026
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Ronaldo 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 2‑1 win over Raków Częstochowa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.20 — 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.” Jan Grosicki kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
A 2‑1 win over Korona, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A brace, and Karol Czubak takes the afternoon — 8.94
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Karol Czubak provided it, and the 8.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The 89th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Bartosz Wolski decided nobody was going anywhere. Korona had no time left to answer.
Thomas Santos 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Patryk Kukulski is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin 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 Ivo Rodrigues was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Motor Lublin has been clear about where Gašper Tratnik stands, which is more than many ever get.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Motor Lublin will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Motor Lublin. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fábio Ronaldo 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 club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Jan Grosicki chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Thomas Santos 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 Fábio Ronaldo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Sep 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 Jan Grosicki to a room that had heard them before.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Legia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Motor Lublin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Motor Lublin. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Thomas Santos 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.
Zaglebie left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Motor Lublin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivo Rodrigues 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.” Jan Grosicki after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Pogon next, and one man in the Motor Lublin dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
“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 Motor Lublin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Motor Lublin will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Motor Lublin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Kacper Wełniak is a Motor Lublin player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Motor Lublin and Arka Gdynia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fábio Ronaldo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Bucharest have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Karol Czubak at his very best
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Motor Lublin can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Motor Lublin close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 33 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fábio Ronaldo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cremonese have kept their man, and Motor Lublin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Filip Luberecki has come out of that comparison in the side, and Motor Lublin have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Karol Czubak’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Motor Lublin needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.