Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zaglebie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The deal with Sparta Prague 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.
The fee is $480.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Raków Częstochowa drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Motor Lublin have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Jan Paluska 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.
Cyprian Popielec 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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Zaglebie know which stage they are at.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zaglebie will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Mihael Mlinarić has gone, the accounts have $4.0M 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.
NK Osijek paid $4.0M and Zaglebie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Jan Paluska was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Zaglebie asked and Sparta Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadWords at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zaglebie will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer from Wisla Krakow for Kacper Bieszczad 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Filip Gustafsson has agreed terms with Jagiellonia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zaglebie will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Navin Malysh 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. Zaglebie will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zaglebie people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lech have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $275.5K of what Zaglebie paid for Dominik Sokół is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Slavia Prague is saying, and nobody at Zaglebie is enjoying the guessing.
Cracovia paid $230.0K and Zaglebie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Jan Paluska 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.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
The name of Dominik Sokół has come up in conversations Zaglebie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Stelios Andreou and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Zaglebie asked and PAOK 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Wojciech Mońka has his answer from Zaglebie; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
71 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Zaglebie have had the benefit of it.
Damian Michalski 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ricardo Visus is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Bąk 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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Mlinarić 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dominik Sokół will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Denis Vavro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Mlinarić 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zaglebie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zaglebie know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Zaglebie will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Denis Vavro 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.
Squad7 May 2029
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ricardo Visus 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 Zaglebie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zaglebie know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zaglebie could ask drops and the wages Filip Gustafsson can ask rise.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Mihael Mlinarić plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Denis Vavro 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.
Nobody at Zaglebie will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie 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 Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihael Mlinarić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Stelios Andreou 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Ricardo Visus 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zaglebie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zaglebie know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Daniel Bąk has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Damian Michalski 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 Mihael Mlinarić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Zaglebie pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Denis Vavro 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Krzysztof Kolanko has come out of that comparison in the side, and Zaglebie have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Something was said to Piotr Starzyński and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Zaglebie will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Ricardo Visus 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 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.
Marked 8.12 — 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Odra Opole scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zaglebie told Denis Vavro something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
8 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dominik Sokół will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihael Mlinarić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Stelios Andreou will call it something else in private.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
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 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Denis Vavro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Krzysztof Kolanko and Zaglebie agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Denis Vavro 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.
Three points for Zaglebie, 3‑1 the final word against Lechia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Ricardo Visus 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 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Krzysztof Kolanko 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped 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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Stelios Andreou 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.
7 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.
“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 Zaglebie, and 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutRicardo Visus knocks on the manager's door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Dominik Hładun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Zaglebie will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sebastian Kowalczyk provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Jakub Kolan reports back to Zaglebie with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Denis Vavro 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 Ricardo Visus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sebastian Piszczek 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Adam Moder 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.
58 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The deal that would have taken Kacper Bieszczad to Wisła Płock has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Zaglebie with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Add another name to the list: Lech have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dominik Sokół. The answer from Zaglebie has not changed — yet.
Denis Vavro 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Stelios Andreou.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Stelios Andreou 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.
Add another name to the list: Widzew Łódź have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jakub Kolan. The answer from Zaglebie has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ricardo Visus 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Ricardo Visus
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zaglebie people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Liberto has, at Zaglebie, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Dominik Sokół has agreed terms with Arka Gdynia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Stelios Andreou 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. Universitatea Cluj have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mihael Mlinarić provided it, and the 8.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Add another name to the list: Wisła Płock have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kacper Bieszczad. The answer from Zaglebie has not changed — yet.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Mlinarić 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
50 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Filip Szymczak 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.
Raków Częstochowa paid $2.4M and Zaglebie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie 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 Ricardo Visus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Zaglebie had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Aleks Ławniczak scored, was marked 7.46, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Dominik Hładun 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.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Dominik Hładun 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 a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Polonia Warszawa tried to reorganise, Zaglebie did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filip Szymczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑0 win over Puszcza Niepołomice, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“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 Zaglebie, and 5 appearances in 23 say he has earned the hearing.
Dominik Gujda 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 2‑0 win over Pogoń Grodzisk Mazowiecki, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Zaglebie know which stage they are at.
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihael Mlinarić 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.
Filip Gustafsson 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Vitalii Farasieienko has just signed for Zaglebie, and for once the answer mattered.
Dominik Hładun 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 Filip Szymczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Zaglebie know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Navin Malysh has, at Zaglebie, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Daniel Bąk 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 Filip Szymczak 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 Zaglebie, and 4 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Zaglebie know which stage they are at.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zaglebie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Wojciech Kamiński is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Wojciech Kamiński’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zaglebie needing him to play as if none of it matters.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samuel Pikolon provided it, and the 8.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Nov 2028
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Zaglebie. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dominik Gujda has, at Zaglebie, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
Dominik Hładun 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Szymczak 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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.67, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at Zaglebie where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Wisla Krakow until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Dominik Sokół is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. 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. Mihael Mlinarić provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 7.75 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 goals in one match, Filip Szymczak on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zaglebie and Lechia.
Lechia made Zaglebie work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Szymczak is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Krzysztof Kolanko 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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Zaglebie. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Wojciech Kamiński obliged against Wisła Płock. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Zaglebie.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 107th minute. Wisła Płock will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Position 2, 25 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.
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomasz Makowski 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 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Gabriel Isik 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filip Szymczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Mateusz Dziewiatowski 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Filip Szymczak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Dominik Sokół’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zaglebie needing him to play as if none of it matters.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mihael Mlinarić provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
25 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Dominik Hładun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filip Szymczak was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Pogoń Siedlce will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zaglebie 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. Mihael Mlinarić provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zaglebie heard it as anything 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomasz Makowski 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.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Zaglebie prefer.
Marked 7.31 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have 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 Zaglebie will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zaglebie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zaglebie told David Čolina something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
The medical room confirms 48 days on the sidelines for Antonio Čolak, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomasz Makowski 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 watch every Zaglebie game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Wisla Krakow runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Tomasz Makowski’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zaglebie needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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 Zaglebie have no good answer.
Two goals and a mark of 8.32 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The bid was some way short and Zaglebie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Zaglebie close the window on a squad of their own making
24 in and 25 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Polonia Bytom spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
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 name of Gabriel Isik has come up in conversations Zaglebie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomasz Makowski 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.
Gabriel Isik 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.
Something was said to Filip Szymczak and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It needed Sebastian Kowalczyk to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Stal Rzeszów, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Filip Szymczak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The mood at Zaglebie has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Znicz Pruszków will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zaglebie were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Szymczak 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.
Korona paid $56.0K and Zaglebie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Zaglebie had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Kryvbas, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Dominik Hładun 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 want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zaglebie heard it as anything else.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Szymczak 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Antonio Čolak. 2‑0 against Chrobry Głogów, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Dominik Hładun 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.
$120.0K was the most the club would pay and Arka Gdynia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Polonia Bytom paid $360.0K and Zaglebie took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The terraces7 Aug 2028
Zaglebie spend $660.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $660.0K for Daniel Bąk, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zaglebie have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Zaglebie offered $820.0K; Korona 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.
The chase for Miłosz Mleczko ended with $280.0K changing hands and GKS Katowice out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
$120.0K on the table at Arka Gdynia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Zaglebie and GKS Katowice have settled on $280.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
$820.0K on the table at Korona. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Aalborg 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.
$130.0K on the table at Arka Gdynia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Aarón Romero has left for Pogon in a $85.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Josip Ćorluka falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The phone has started ringing about Filip Kocaba again, and this time the name on the line is Motor Lublin. Zaglebie are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Motor Lublin for Jakub Kolan 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 Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Lugo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zaglebie asked and Arka Gdynia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The phone has started ringing about Roman Yakuba again, and this time the name on the line is Kudrivka. Zaglebie are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The clubs have shaken hands with ŁKS Łódź; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Jakub Kolan has come up in conversations Zaglebie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The mood at Zaglebie has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Korona waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Wojciech Mońka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zaglebie have gone to Lechia 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.
Dominik Hładun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka 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. FC Nordsjaelland have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The name of Igor Orlikowski has come up in conversations Zaglebie were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Antonio Čolak
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zaglebie have done the hard part with Bruk-Bet Termalica, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Aarón Romero has agreed terms with Wisla Krakow for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Dominik Hładun 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 Sebastian Kowalczyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Aleks Ławniczak had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
He is going to Lechia, the club has $450.0K 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.
Zaglebie and Arka Gdynia have settled on $52.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zaglebie heard it as anything else.
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.
Zaglebie 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.
Tomasz Makowski 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.
It is arithmetic now, and the arithmetic is done. A summer of hard questions starts early at Zaglebie, and next season's fixture list reads very differently.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Igor Orlikowski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zaglebie have done the hard part with Wieczysta Kraków, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zaglebie hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Josip Ćorluka falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The mood at Zaglebie has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sebastian Mrowca 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.
Something was said to Damian Michalski and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damian Michalski is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Something was said to Mihael Mlinarić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Filip Szymczak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mateusz Grzybek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Dominik Hładun 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Josip Ćorluka 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 year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Zaglebie would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Zaglebie says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Position 16 and 32 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Igor Orlikowski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Zaglebie has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dominik Hładun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damian Michalski 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 Sebastian Mrowca 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Zaglebie has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michalis Kosidis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Josip Ćorluka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zaglebie could ask drops and the wages Damian Dąbrowski can ask rise.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Michalski 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 Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastian Mrowca 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 Szymon Karasiński has written the date down.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zaglebie could ask drops and the wages Mateusz Grzybek can ask rise.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
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.
Day 9 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
0‑3 against Raków Częstochowa, 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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Josip Ćorluka 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.
Sebastian Mrowca 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Filip Szymczak
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dominik Hładun 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 Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zaglebie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Raków Częstochowa next, and one man in the Zaglebie dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Sebastian Mrowca may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Two goals and a mark of 8.62 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Slask were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Dominik Hładun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damian Michalski 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.
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.
16 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.
Position 16 and 28 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.08 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie 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 Josip Ćorluka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
1‑2 to Gornik Zabrze, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Bartosz Linetty left the room before anybody could ask which.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Sebastian Mrowca will call it something else in private.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Edvin Austbø 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 Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“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 dugout6 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Bartosz Linetty to a room that had heard them before.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zaglebie lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvin Austbø 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 Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zaglebie lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mateusz Grzybek has agreed terms with Bruk-Bet Termalica for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvin Austbø is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Zaglebie will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zaglebie lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 16 and 27 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zaglebie asked and Hamburger SV said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Sebastian Mrowca 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 words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Zaglebie can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zaglebie people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Zaglebie until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Wisła Płock moved on, Michalis Kosidis reports back to Zaglebie, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zaglebie asked and Olympiacos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wisła Płock waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AEK is saying, and nobody at Zaglebie is enjoying the guessing.
Dominik Hładun 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.
Zaglebie asked and Bruk-Bet Termalica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Josip Ćorluka 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 going to Wisła Płock, the club has $3.1M 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Olympiacos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Dominik Hładun 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 Sebastian Kowalczyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zaglebie asked and Olympiacos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mihael Mlinarić. 1‑0 against Wisla Krakow, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
9 matches without a win, and then this, against Bruk-Bet Termalica. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Damian Michalski scored, was marked 7.75, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zaglebie asked and AEK said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zaglebie people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about Marcel Reguła again, and this time the name on the line is Lech. Zaglebie are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka 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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Zaglebie is running low.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Josip Ćorluka 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.
Zaglebie asked and Wieczysta Kraków said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Sebastian Mrowca 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 phone has started ringing about Wojciech Mońka again, and this time the name on the line is Odra Opole. Zaglebie are listening politely and promising nothing.
Position 16 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
7 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sebastian Kowalczyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Sebastian Mrowca was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
Dominik Hładun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Josip Ćorluka 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bartosz Linetty after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
In brief
The dugoutJakub Sypek asks for a word with the manager
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Dominik Hładun and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Josip Ćorluka 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Bartosz Linetty was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Zaglebie dressing room was either.
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 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 point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Half the programme played, position 13, 18 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. João Moutinho is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Josip Ćorluka 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 Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Wojciech Mońka and Zaglebie agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Bartosz Linetty to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Josip Ćorluka 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 91 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Zaglebie had all but put away. Slask will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bartosz Linetty after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zaglebie told Roman Yakuba something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Wojciech Mońka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damian Michalski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zaglebie, and both men came out saying it was fine.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Levente Szabó has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Slask in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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 Zaglebie would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.50, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka 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.
Sebastian Mrowca 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Levente Szabó in the middle of it, and Gornik Zabrze unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
“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; Zaglebie are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Krzysztof Kolanko has come out of that comparison in the side, and Zaglebie have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bartosz Linetty on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutFilip Szymczak asks for a word with the manager
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie 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 Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
100 games in 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.
“I did not go to Wieczysta Kraków to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zaglebie and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Bartosz Linetty left the room before anybody could ask which.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bartosz Linetty after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastian Kowalczyk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zaglebie they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dominik Hładun 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 Josip Ćorluka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 16 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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zaglebie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka 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 Zaglebie, another week without a signature from Filip Szymczak.
Lukasz Linetty 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Zaglebie man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Levente Szabó was the best thing in any of them.
“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 Zaglebie will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Lučić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Filip Szymczak’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zaglebie needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zaglebie have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 7.57 for the rest of it.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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 mark of 7.79 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 Zaglebie this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Zaglebie and Cracovia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Josip Ćorluka 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 kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑5 Bartosz Linetty left the room before anybody could ask which.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Wojciech Mońka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zaglebie the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Josip Ćorluka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. 48 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sebastian Mrowca and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damian Michalski 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.
Marcel Reguła scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Wisla Krakow, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Bartosz Linetty left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Odra Opole waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zaglebie is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The bid was some way short and Zaglebie did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Zaglebie close the window on a squad of their own making
17 in and 7 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.
Sebastian Mrowca 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka 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 words a physio says slowly. 63 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zaglebie may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Marcel Reguła, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.89
A mark of 7.89 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Dominik Hładun 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Josip Ćorluka 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.
Zaglebie asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A 2‑0 win over Bruk-Bet Termalica, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zaglebie lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zaglebie can pretend not to have heard.
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damian Michalski is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lanús have kept their man, and Zaglebie go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
79 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zaglebie lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Wisla Krakow moved on, Kacper Bieszczad reports back to Zaglebie, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka 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.
8 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
Transfer targetsA loan move for Dominik Javorček is in the works
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zaglebie lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Zaglebie, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sebastian Mrowca 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Zaglebie training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Josip Ćorluka 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.
Zaglebie asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.