Cheick Mamadou Diabaté 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Erik Kojzek. 2‑1 against Altach, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Erik Kojzek has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Lukas Hinteregger kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
SquadWords at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Nicolas Wimmer
Marked 8.31 — 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.
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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Nagoya Grampus had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nikola Perić has agreed terms with SV Ried for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Wolfsberger AC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tochukwu Michael 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.
Minute 95, against Austria Wien, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Lukas Wedl 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 offer from Plymouth Argyle for Sankara Karamoko 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Avellino is saying, and nobody at Wolfsberger AC is enjoying the guessing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sankara Karamoko and Wolfsberger AC agree another 4 years.
A capacity of 4691 on the plans. A decision judged twenty years from now, by people who were not in the room and will have opinions anyway.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Muhlethaler 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 offer from Altach for Florent Hajdini 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.
Cheick Mamadou Diabaté and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hammarby have kept their man, and Wolfsberger AC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Guido Baumgartner and Wolfsberger AC agree another 3 years.
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 Wolfsberger AC would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
32 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Millwall had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The deal that would have taken Cheick Mamadou Diabaté to Red Bull Salzburg has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Wolfsberger AC with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Wolfsberger AC have gone to Altach 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thierno Ballo and Wolfsberger AC agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Thierno Ballo 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 name of Tobias Gruber has come up in conversations Wolfsberger AC were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Stefan Hinteregger is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tochukwu Michael was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Red Bull Salzburg for Cheick Mamadou Diabaté 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.
Austria Wien paid $7.2M and Wolfsberger AC took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Boris Matić has gone, the accounts have $7.2M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Wolfsberger AC had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Partizan, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Erik Kojzek and Wolfsberger AC agree another 5 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Admira Wacker paid $680.0K and Wolfsberger AC took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
At 15 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ascoli have kept their man, and Wolfsberger AC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from Rapid Wien for Nicolas Wimmer 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.
Emmanuel Agyemang has gone, the accounts have $2.4M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Red Bull Salzburg paid $2.4M and Wolfsberger AC took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Matić 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Wolfsberger AC have made the call to Partizan. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wolfsberger AC have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
29 appearances away from home and 16 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Dominik Fitz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Marco Sulzner 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wolfsberger AC will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
He is going to Rapid Wien, the club has $4.6M 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lisandru Olmeta is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ascoli keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Austria Wien paid $160.0K and Wolfsberger AC took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Boris Matić 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Rapid Wien for Đorđe Jovanović was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Wolfsberger AC have done the hard part with Ascoli, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Đorđe Jovanović 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 Boris Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tochukwu Michael and Wolfsberger AC agree another 4 years.
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.
In brief
The terracesThe stands have heard the Đorđe Jovanović talk too
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Wolfsberger AC had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Đorđe Jovanović was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Cheick Mamadou Diabaté 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.
29 appearances at IMT and the goals keep coming. Wolfsberger AC are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Matić 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Wolfsberger AC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Wolfsberger AC will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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 Emin Kujović has written the date down.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boris Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Đorđe Jovanović signs something — a contract at Wolfsberger AC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 4, 32 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Wolfsberger AC have no good answer.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wolfsberger AC will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Đorđe Jovanović 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Markus Laimer 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 Dominik Fitz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Wolfsberger AC, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
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 Raffael Behounek has written the date down.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Skubl signs something — a contract at Wolfsberger AC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 May 2027
Boris Matić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Emin Kujović has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Đurić asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wolfsberger AC will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC 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 Boris Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simon Piesinger trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Fitz 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 Wolfsberger AC, another week without a signature from Emmanuel Agyemang.
32 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Đorđe Jovanović 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Boris Matić falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Wolfsberger AC, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“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; Wolfsberger AC are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Matić 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Wolfsberger AC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wolfsberger AC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
29 appearances at IMT and the goals keep coming. Wolfsberger AC are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Fitz 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wolfsberger AC will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Matić 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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 120 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Boris Matić 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 Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Wolfsberger AC game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Admira Wacker runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 128 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Đorđe Jovanović and Wolfsberger AC agree another 4 years.
Đorđe Jovanović 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 Mar 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Fitz 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Wolfsberger AC, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Emin Kujović 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Kevin Freiberger is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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 Emin Kujović has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wolfsberger AC will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ryan Ogam had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC 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 Boris Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wolfsberger AC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
32 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Wolfsberger AC have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Dominik Fitz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not go to Admira Wacker to sit and watch. I want to come back to Wolfsberger AC and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
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 Raffael Behounek has written the date down.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Wolfsberger AC will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Wolfsberger AC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Đorđe Jovanović 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
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Wimmer 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Wolfsberger AC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Emin Kujović has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Wolfsberger AC will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Wolfsberger AC close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
16 goals in 27 games at IMT — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Wolfsberger AC updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolas Wimmer was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” José Ataupillco and Wolfsberger AC agree another 3 years.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wolfsberger AC can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Fitz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Wolfsberger AC are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Wolfsberger AC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Wolfsberger AC lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Red Bull Salzburg paid $2.7M and Wolfsberger AC took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mauro Muhlethaler is living that version at Wolfsberger AC, and it tends to show in the first month.
Everything agreed with Red Bull Salzburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Đorđe Jovanović 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Matić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Austria Wien have kept their man, and Wolfsberger AC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Red Bull Salzburg for Boris Matić 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.
Wolfsberger AC asked and Sheffield Wednesday said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Đorđe Jovanović 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Wolfsberger AC have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Fitz 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adama Dramé and Wolfsberger AC agree another 4 years.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Wolfsberger AC will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“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 Wolfsberger AC, and it is not being withdrawn.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Joris Boguo has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Wolfsberger AC have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
A loan enquiry to Red Bull Salzburg: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Diego Mascardi is in the works
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nicolas Wimmer 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 Boris Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 goals in 22 games at IMT — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Wolfsberger AC updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
In brief
The dugoutNicolas Wimmer asks for a word with the manager
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Dominik Fitz 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Wolfsberger AC have no good answer.
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Boris Matić and Wolfsberger AC agree another 5 years.
The words a physio says slowly. 62 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Matić 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 has re-ordered his thinking and Tochukwu Michael has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Wolfsberger AC 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 Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dominik Fitz 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 words a physio says slowly. 82 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A 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 7.98 for the rest of it.
Đorđe Jovanović 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: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Dominik Fitz 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.
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Wolfsberger AC lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Đorđe Jovanović 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 Boris Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 95, against SV Ried, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Angelo Gattermayer provided it, and the 8.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Nicolas Wimmer and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Gabriel Rodrigues has, at Wolfsberger AC, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Michael Onisiwo 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.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.55, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Fitz 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.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Đorđe Jovanović provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jacob Peter Hödl did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Pavlo Isenko 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Wolfsberger AC and Grodig in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Đorđe Jovanović. 4‑2 against Grodig, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dominik Fitz 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 words a physio says slowly. 113 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Successful dribbles: 36. 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 Wolfsberger AC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Boris Matić 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.
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Something was said to Angelo Gattermayer and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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.
The words a physio says slowly. 124 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Đorđe Jovanović 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.
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dominik Fitz 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 dugout19 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 1‑3 Lukas Hinteregger left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Wolfsberger AC will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
132 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Đorđe Jovanović provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dejan Schlager 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Fitz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The words a physio says slowly. 139 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Admira Wacker will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Wolfsberger AC were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Wolfsberger AC 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 Boris Matić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.21 — 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.
147 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Wolfsberger AC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Đorđe Jovanović 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.
Position 4, 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 Emin Kujović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It needed Đorđe Jovanović to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Austria Wien, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Lukas Hinteregger after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
A 1‑1 draw with Sturm Graz leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 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.” Lukas Hinteregger chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Wolfsberger AC have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jessic Ngankam provided it, and the 8.59 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Slovan Bratislava is saying, and nobody at Wolfsberger AC is enjoying the guessing.
Pavlo Isenko 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Guido Weimann is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Raphael Ilsanker 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Boris Matić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jessic Ngankam provided it, and the 8.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Cheick Mamadou Diabaté reports back to Wolfsberger AC with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.84, and nobody on the pitch better.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 20 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Wolfsberger AC until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Everything agreed with Slovan Bratislava, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Pavlo Isenko 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.
Wolfsberger AC asked and Altach said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Jacob Peter Hödl, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.17
A mark of 8.17 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.32 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Wolfsberger AC asked and Austria Wien said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Wolfsberger AC and Grodig, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boris Matić 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Donis Avdijaj was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.05. 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.
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.
The offer from Rapid Wien for Cheick Mamadou Diabaté 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.
Raffael Behounek and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Catania have kept their man, and Wolfsberger AC 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 Boris Matić 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.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Wolfsberger AC have made the call to Rapid Wien. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Pavlo Isenko is in the works
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ryan Ogam had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Lukas Gütlbauer was one of the reasons people came, and $2.9M does not replace that by itself.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Wolfsberger AC asked and Mattersburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Wolfsberger AC had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Werder Bremen, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolas Wimmer and Wolfsberger AC agree another 3 years.
Đorđe Jovanović was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Wolfsberger AC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Wimmer 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Nicolas Wimmer
Admira Wacker will want this one forgotten quickly: 21‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Wolfsberger AC were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Otar Mamageishvili provided it, and the 8.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Emmanuel Agyemang provided it, and the 8.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Đorđe Jovanović has just signed for Wolfsberger AC, and for once the answer mattered.
Marked 7.67 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Rene Renner delivers — 7.62
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Rene Renner scored, was marked 7.62, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.