It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Julian Gölles falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Maximilian Fuchs 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. Marcel Lainer has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kevin Junuzovic 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.
Marcus Maier 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Amstetten have kept their man, and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Omar Sowunmi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wolfsberger AC paid $620.0K and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Julian Gölles falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
5 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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omar Sowunmi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Kapfenberg 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.
Soumaïla Diabaté 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 had been thinking. Julian Gölles 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.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz asked and WSG Tirol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
In brief
The dugoutAtsushi Zaizen is still being punished for one mistake
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz asked and El Masry said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tim Köther was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have made the call to Blau-Weiß Linz. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Florian Prirsch has his answer from Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz asked and LASK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Marcus Maier 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 Julian Gölles was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Wolfsberger AC 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.
The manager has not finished forgetting Samuel Biek's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tobias Mandler trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to LASK 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.
Marcus Maier 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Julian Gölles 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.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz asked and WSG Tirol 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 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.
The offer from SV Ried for Levan Eloshvili 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Red Bull Salzburg 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.
Marcus Maier and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Omar Sowunmi 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Tim Köther was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Sebastian Dirnberger 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 Omar Sowunmi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Damian Maksimović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Samuel Biek 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 Johannes Tartarotti has written the date down.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omar Sowunmi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Omar Sowunmi has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt 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 will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Sowunmi 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.
Marcus Maier 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
Danny Schmidt falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Samuel Biek's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marcus Maier 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Danny Schmidt 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Óscar Opazo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Omar Sowunmi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Samuel Biek and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt 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 will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutTamar Crnkić asks for a word with the manager
Marcus Maier 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 Tim Köther was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, 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 Johannes Tartarotti has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Danny Schmidt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, another week without a signature from Omar Sowunmi.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Omar Sowunmi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Manuel Haas and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, another week without a signature from Julian Gölles.
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz can pretend not to have heard.
Marcus Maier and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz know 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tim Köther 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 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.
Marcus Maier 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Danny Schmidt 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 club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Óscar Opazo will call it something else in private.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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 Danny Schmidt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz know it.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Atsushi Zaizen's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at LASK is saying, and nobody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz is enjoying the guessing.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Manuel Haas 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Julian Gölles falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Christopher Giuliani will call it something else in private.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. John Dembe did not need any: 8.41, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Marcus Maier and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt 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.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Levan Eloshvili was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.87. 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.
0‑3 against St. Pölten, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Marcus Maier 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 had been thinking. Danny Schmidt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at WSG Tirol is saying, and nobody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stripfing have kept their man, and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolas Rossi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at LASK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have gone to WSG Tirol 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz can pretend not to have heard.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.11, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz has been clear about where Tobias Mandler stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
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.
Marcus Maier and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sebastian Dirnberger has his answer from Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, another week without a signature from Marcus Maier.
First Vienna 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.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Sebastian Dirnberger 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.
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.
A 2‑0 win over Austria Salzburg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Marked 8.26 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Manuel Haas 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 had been thinking. Danny Schmidt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.10, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Julian Gölles falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. John Dembe 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Dragan Marčeta
Marcus Maier 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Óscar Opazo 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 had been thinking. Jan Stefanon 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.
Marked 7.33 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz had the best player on the pitch.
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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Atsushi Zaizen's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Marko Wimmer on the draw
Position 3, 23 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Marcus Maier 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 Danny Schmidt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Half the programme played, position 3, 23 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz had all but put away. First Vienna will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Yannick Bujard has, at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danny Schmidt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Marko Wimmer to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have gone and got theirs early.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz can pretend not to have heard.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Stefanon 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against FAC Wien in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and both men came out saying it was fine.
John Dembe, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.11
A mark of 8.11 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Sebastian Dirnberger and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Danny Schmidt falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 21 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.
19 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.
Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, another week without a signature from Julian Gölles.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutAtsushi Zaizen is still being punished for one mistake
“The easiest signature of my career.” Óscar Opazo and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Óscar Opazo 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
Danny Schmidt 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 club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Marko Wimmer was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz dressing room was either.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Stefanon 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 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.
The dugout26 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 Marko Wimmer left the room before anybody could ask which.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bonaventure Lendambi is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Danny Schmidt falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Danny Schmidt 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.
Marcus Maier 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
Danny Schmidt 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jan Stefanon has his answer from Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Atsushi Zaizen's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Two goals and a mark of 9.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Marcus Maier was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Sturm Graz II tried to reorganise, Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz will try not to make too much of it.
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for John Dembe
9Edition
The Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz Chronicle
28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondentSteady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
John Dembe, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.04
A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Danny Schmidt 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.
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz had all but put away. St. Pölten will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
7 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.
“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.
John Dembe, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.90
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danny Schmidt 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: John Dembe. 2‑0 against Austria Lustenau, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Marko Wimmer kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Florian Prirsch 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
Jan Stefanon falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
In brief
The dugoutMarcus Maier knocks on the manager's door
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz 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.
Marcus Maier 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.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz offered $65.0K; Austria Lustenau 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danny Schmidt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz ran out of time with Grazer AK. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
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.
Kapfenberg go through and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $68.2K — a club that wants Ibrahim Ouattara enough to be asked twice.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Viktoria Plzen is saying, and nobody at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz is enjoying the guessing.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz asked and KuPS 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have gone to Austria Lustenau 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Levan Eloshvili. 3‑2 against Young Violets, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Levan Eloshvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have done the hard part with Viktoria Plzen, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz asked and Austria Lustenau said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz offered $21.0K; Austria Salzburg 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Julian Gölles has, at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $22.8K — a club that wants Edin Omerović enough to be asked twice.
Marcus Maier 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 Levan Eloshvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marko Martinović has his answer from Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutHalf-satisfied: Marko Wimmer on the draw
“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 Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz have done the hard part with Fortuna Düsseldorf, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Red Bull Salzburg keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Austria Salzburg 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Christoph Alaba has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thomas Weimann is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastian Dirnberger and Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Sebastian Dirnberger 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz, another week without a signature from Lars Nussbaumer.