Everything agreed with Magdeburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Christian Kofane 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 Adam Markhiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Tino Kusanović again, and this time the name on the line is Heerenveen. Nürnberg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Holstein Kiel 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Greuther Fürth will make the call about Dustin Forkel this week. Nürnberg have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nürnberg, another week without a signature from Noah Sarenren-Bazee.
$12.2M on the table at Eintracht Braunschweig. 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 $3.7M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Eintracht Braunschweig drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Nürnberg hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The deal with RB Leipzig 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Markhiev 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. VfB Stuttgart have kept their man, and Nürnberg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Semir Telalović 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 Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Markhiev 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.
Squad31 May 2027
12 new faces, and Nürnberg 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.
Nobody at Nürnberg 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nürnberg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Nürnberg had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg 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.
6 shut-outs in 11 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Robin Lisewski has been having a lot of them.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Arminia Bielefeld kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Nürnberg will be asked about the last half hour all week.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 51 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Christian Kofane and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pascal Stenzel 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: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Nobody 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.” David Winter chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Christian Kofane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Adam Markhiev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“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 Nürnberg will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. VfL Bochum defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Up for the corner, and Adam Markhiev delivers — 7.58
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Adam Markhiev scored, was marked 7.58, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Nürnberg and Dynamo Dresden, 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 Pascal Stenzel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.28 — 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 3‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Christian Kofane, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.16
A mark of 8.16 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Christian Kofane 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pascal Stenzel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohamed Alì Zoma 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nürnberg.
The dugout26 Apr 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.” David Winter, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Markhiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Semir Telalović will call it something else in private.
The dugout19 Apr 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.” David Winter, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
Afonso Moreira 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 Pascal Stenzel 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.
Fortuna Düsseldorf next, and one man in the Nürnberg 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.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Christian Kofane has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.09 — 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. 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Rogério is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Piet Scobel and Nürnberg agree another 5 years.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Adam Markhiev 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.
Karlsruher SC next, and one man in the Nürnberg dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
40 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohamed Alì Zoma signs something — a contract at Nürnberg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Christian Kofane 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Badredine Bouanani 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.
8.32. 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 Afonso Moreira and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A 2‑2 draw with Preußen Münster leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad22 Mar 2027
5 new faces, and Nürnberg 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg 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.
Something was said to Christian Kofane and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Amin Younes.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Nürnberg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Pascal Stenzel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Adam Markhiev 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Nürnberg can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I watch every Nürnberg game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Saburtalo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Two goals and a mark of 9.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Nürnberg can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tino Kusanović is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.” David Winter kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nürnberg, another week without a signature from Lars Ritzka.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg 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 Pascal Stenzel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, David Winter could afford to be generous.
Pascal Stenzel 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Markhiev 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.
Nürnberg asked and Genoa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
It needed Muhammed Damar to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Hertha BSC, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” David Winter was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Nürnberg dressing room was either.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pascal Stenzel 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.
19 appearances away from home and 10 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout8 Feb 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 0‑1 David Winter left the room before anybody could ask which.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Nürnberg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Jan Reichert has left for Darmstadt 98 in a $3.5M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Nürnberg close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 3 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg 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 Adam Markhiev 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. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Nürnberg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Darmstadt 98; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
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.
5 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.
The offer from Montana for Robin Lisewski 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 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Julian Justvan. 3‑1 against SC Paderborn, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nürnberg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
93 minutes played. Semir Telalović found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and SV Elversberg went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Two goals and a mark of 9.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Markhiev 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. Yokohama F. Marinos have kept their man, and Nürnberg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A 2‑1 win over SV Elversberg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nürnberg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Arminia Bielefeld had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Nürnberg did not stop to explain themselves.
Everything agreed with Bayer Leverkusen, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
Semir Telalović 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 20 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Eintracht Braunschweig have kept their man, and Nürnberg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Nürnberg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Berkay Yılmaz is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Everything agreed with VfL Wolfsburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Dustin Forkel again, and this time the name on the line is Holstein Kiel. Nürnberg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nürnberg asked and Genoa 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 1‑0 win over VfL Bochum, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Lars Ritzka falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Semir Telalović at his very best
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nürnberg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Dynamo Dresden spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Markhiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mohamed Alì Zoma has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.02 — 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 1‑0, David Winter could afford to be generous.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nürnberg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Pascal Stenzel 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Markhiev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” David Winter after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Something was said to Jannik Hofmann and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Amin Younes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
Pascal Stenzel 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 Lars Ritzka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Successful dribbles: 10. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The words a physio says slowly. 75 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg 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.
0‑1 to Hannover 96, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Berkay Yılmaz is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Nürnberg will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Fortuna Düsseldorf in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
Rogério 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.
Karlsruher SC left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Markhiev 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: 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.
7 goals in 10 games at Willem II — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Nürnberg updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nürnberg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Out, 1‑2 to Borussia Mönchengladbach, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Preußen Münster spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Semir Telalović 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 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A 1‑0 win over Preußen Münster, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lars Ritzka 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.
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nürnberg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Semir Telalović 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 Pascal Stenzel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Preußen Münster next, and one man in the Nürnberg dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Amin Younes has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nürnberg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jannik Hofmann has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 104 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Adam Markhiev 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 7.74 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nürnberg, another week without a signature from Noah Sarenren-Bazee.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jordy de Wijs
The dugoutAmin Younes knocks on the manager’s door
112 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nürnberg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Pascal Stenzel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lars Ritzka 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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.54 on the card, and the Nürnberg support went home talking about one name.
Squad2 Nov 2026
5 new faces, and Nürnberg 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.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Jannik Hofmann
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Nürnberg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
At 20 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 Pascal Stenzel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 7.04 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Lars Ritzka 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” David Winter after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
127 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nürnberg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Javier Fernández did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Pascal Stenzel 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nürnberg 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.” Nürnberg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Rogério 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 Oct 2026
Lars Ritzka 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.
143 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nürnberg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pascal Stenzel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nürnberg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Berkay Yılmaz is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Nürnberg will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The dugout5 Oct 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 0‑1 David Winter left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nürnberg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Lars Ritzka 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Nürnberg, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 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 Hertha BSC.
Two goals and a mark of 8.63 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Pascal Stenzel 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 Lars Ritzka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.33. 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 3‑3, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Nürnberg have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pascal Stenzel 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.
Nürnberg asked and Holstein Kiel said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Berkay Yılmaz 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.
Nürnberg ran out of time with Magdeburg. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Jan Reichert and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and Nürnberg 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.
That is the business done at Nürnberg 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nürnberg can pretend not to have heard.
Nürnberg ran out of time with Hertha BSC. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
$390.0K was the most the club would pay and SV Elversberg were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Nürnberg asked and VfL Bochum said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Adam Markhiev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luka Lochoshvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nürnberg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Solin for Tino Kusanović 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Nürnberg have done the hard part with Magdeburg, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $390.0K — a club that wants Filimon Gerezgiher enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to SV Elversberg 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.
Amin Younes 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.
Nürnberg asked and Flamengo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Robin Lisewski has come up in conversations Nürnberg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nürnberg can pretend not to have heard.
Nürnberg offered $800.0K; VfL Wolfsburg 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.
Danilo Soares has left for Werder Bremen in a $250.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Adam Markhiev 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 phone has started ringing about Tino Kusanović again, and this time the name on the line is Barrow AFC. Nürnberg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Lars Ritzka 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.
Nürnberg asked and Villarreal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It is the quietest way a club tells you what its ambitions are. The money was asked for, the money was refused, and the people who work there every day now know exactly where they stand.
Nürnberg offered $14.8M; Mainz 05 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.
Everything agreed with VfL Wolfsburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Markhiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nürnberg asked and OGC Nice said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Luka Lochoshvili has come up in conversations Nürnberg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
10 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.
$11.7M was the most the club would pay and Bayern Munich were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
$800.0K on the table at VfL Wolfsburg. 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 number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $840.0K — a club that wants Jonas Adjetey enough to be asked twice.
Amin Younes 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 name of Rafael Lubach has come up in conversations Nürnberg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Christian Vogel has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tim Martin has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
$10.3M on the table at Bayern Munich. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Noah Sarenren-Bazee has, at Nürnberg, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The offer from Rapid Wien for Julian Justvan 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adriano Grimaldi and Nürnberg agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Nürnberg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Markhiev 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.
Nürnberg asked and Kawasaki Frontale said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nürnberg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nürnberg, another week without a signature from Noah Sarenren-Bazee.