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.
Koki Sakamoto 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Wataru Kamada 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.
Position 14, 15 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Elbio Núñez and Sagan Tosu agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Daichi Suzuki
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Daichi Suzuki has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sagan Tosu have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Kashima Antlers go through and Sagan Tosu go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms 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 Sagan Tosu can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rio Hyon 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jun Nishikawa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sagan Tosu.
Squad31 May 2027
Ryo Shiohama 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 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.
Koki Sakamoto and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ryota Izumori, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
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 Hidemasa Maeda to a room that had heard them before.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kei Uchiyama has his answer from Sagan Tosu; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa 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.
Tatsunori Sakurai 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 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.
Nobody at Sagan Tosu 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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Dean David has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Takefusa Minamino 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryo Shiohama was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Hidemasa Maeda could afford to be generous.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Yuta Imazu has his answer from Sagan Tosu; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Daichi Suzuki is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Eitaro Matsuda
Kenta Nishizawa 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Hidemasa Maeda to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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.
Kenta Nishizawa 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sagan Tosu can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Ryo Shiohama 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 medical room confirms 39 days on the sidelines for Fuchi Honda, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout19 Apr 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.” Hidemasa Maeda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa 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 Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ryota Izumori is on it.
“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 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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Kashiwa Reysol? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Jubilo Iwata next, and one man in the Sagan Tosu dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Sanfrecce Hiroshima? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.15 for the rest of it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rio Nitta 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 Ryo Shiohama was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Rio Nitta was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. 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.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa 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.
Tatsunori Sakurai 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.” Hidemasa Maeda after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
6 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.
Nobody at Sagan Tosu 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.
Yokohama F. Marinos next, and one man in the Sagan Tosu dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Dean David had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Kawasaki Frontale were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
A brace, and Dean David takes the afternoon — 8.79
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dean David provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every 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 Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hiromu Mitsumaru 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.
Add another name to the list: Jubilo Iwata have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ayumu Toyoda. The answer from Sagan Tosu has not changed — yet.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Sagan Tosu ran out of time with FC Tokyo. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Shoya Inoue is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Ventforet Kofu spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
7.89, 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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Sagan Tosu close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 1 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.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Sagan Tosu will try again when the window opens; Avispa Fukuoka may not be selling by then.
Three points for Sagan Tosu, 3‑2 the final word against Ventforet Kofu in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa 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.
Ryo Shiohama and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 15 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
0‑3 to Gamba Osaka, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The offer from Jubilo Iwata for Ayumu Toyoda 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.
He is going to Urawa Reds, the club has $1.7M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Kenta Nishizawa 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 Hiromu Mitsumaru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Avispa Fukuoka for Yoshiki Narahara 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sagan Tosu can pretend not to have heard.
Koki Sakamoto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryo Shiohama 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
7 new faces, and Sagan Tosu 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.
Werder Bremen 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Sagan Tosu will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The clubs have shaken hands with Omiya Ardija; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sagan Tosu can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sagan Tosu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hidemasa Endo 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. Shoya Kamada 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.
Yoshiki Narahara was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Eitaro Matsuda
“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 Sagan Tosu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Raised voices on the training ground at Sagan Tosu
It involved Tatsunori Sakurai, it was loud enough to reach the car park, and it was over by lunch. Dressing rooms run hot; the ones that should worry you are the silent ones.
Kenta Nishizawa 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.
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ryo Shiohama 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 Fuchi Honda is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yuta Imazu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Sagan Tosu asked and Yokohama F. Marinos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Sagan Tosu have made the call to Kawasaki Frontale. 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 Sagan Tosu are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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 Kyosuke Kamiyama is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hiromu Mitsumaru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sagan Tosu have made the call to Yokohama F. Marinos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Sora Ogawa is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sagan Tosu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sagan Tosu 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 Ryo Shiohama was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ryota Izumori is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Koki Sakamoto 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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutYasuki Kimoto asks for a word with the manager
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa 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 at Sagan Tosu 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yasuki Kimoto 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 Yuta Imazu has written the date down.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kaoru Sakai is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daichi Haraguchi 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryo Shiohama 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Kenta Nishizawa 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 Reiya Morishita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Fuchi Honda is on it.
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 Kei Uchiyama has written the date down.
In brief
SquadKenta Nishizawa is training like a man with a point to make
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sagan Tosu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ryo Shiohama 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.
Dean David 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 Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Sagan Tosu 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sagan Tosu know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sagan Tosu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Ryo Shiohama and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marquinhos Pedroso and Sagan Tosu agree another 2 years.
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 Ryota Izumori is on it.
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryo Shiohama is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Jun Nishikawa and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 Kyosuke Kamiyama is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
13 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.
Nobody at Sagan Tosu 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.
In brief
The dugoutYuta Imazu asks for a word with the manager
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.78 for the rest of it.
Kenta Nishizawa 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Takumi Inoue 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryo Shiohama 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.
Level with 97 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Sagan Tosu had all but put away. Kashima Antlers will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Koki Sakamoto 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 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Sagan Tosu will try not to make too much of it.
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 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 0‑2 Hidemasa Maeda left the room before anybody could ask which.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Dean David is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Dean David 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 Hiromu Mitsumaru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A mark of 7.40, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Sep 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.” Hidemasa Maeda chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Urawa Reds defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nobody at Sagan Tosu 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Yasuki Kimoto’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sagan Tosu needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Jun Nishikawa scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Vissel Kobe, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryo Shiohama 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.
100 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.
13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
In brief
The dugoutSora Ogawa has become a man the manager trusts
A brace, and Dean David takes the afternoon — 8.80
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dean David provided it, and the 8.80 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Ayumu Toyoda delivers — 7.91
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ayumu Toyoda scored, was marked 7.91, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa 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 3‑1 win over Vegalta Sendai, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Daichi Suzuki 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yosuke Nakata 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.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Vegalta Sendai spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kenta Nishizawa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sagan Tosu, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Hidemasa Maeda was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Sagan Tosu dressing room was either.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Sagan Tosu than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clock did what Sanfrecce Hiroshima would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ryo Shiohama 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.
Makito Uehara 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 dugout31 Aug 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 0‑2 Hidemasa Maeda left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutJun Nishikawa knocks on the manager’s door
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Eitaro Matsuda
0‑1 against Urawa Reds, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Deadline passes with 14 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Sagan Tosu 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.
The offer went to Sanfrecce Hiroshima 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $988.0K — a club that wants Sota Koshimichi enough to be asked twice.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Sagan Tosu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kenta Nishizawa 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.
Fuchi Honda 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.
Kenta Nishizawa 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.
He is 19 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.
Marked 8.11 — 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.
Sagan Tosu have made the call to Mattersburg. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Yokohama F. Marinos did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $3.7M for Dean David, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sagan Tosu have done the hard part with FC Tokyo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.63 for the rest of 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 Sagan Tosu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$260.0K was the most the club would pay and FC Tokyo 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Dean David from Yokohama F. Marinos for $3.7M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryo Shiohama was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sagan Tosu have gone to Yokohama F. Marinos with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
$920.0K on the table at FC Tokyo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kenta Nishizawa and Sagan Tosu agree another 4 years.
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.
Koki Sakamoto 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.