Marked for Ignacio Viaín
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Dec 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Deportes Temuco people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Yerko Urra honoured for the season
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Deportes Temuco had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market17 Dec 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Emiliano Amor 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.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Yerko Urra claims the golden glove
The one award nobody else on the pitch can win goes to Yerko Urra, on 23 clean sheets across the season. Keepers wait a career for a season like it.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Iván Leszczuk 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 dugout17 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Huanca, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets17 Dec 2029
Colo-Colo have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Nov 2029
Antonio Ceza hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportes Temuco can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportes Temuco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at Deportes Temuco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Antonio Ceza 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.
Market19 Nov 2029
The clock does Emiliano Amor’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Deportes Temuco could ask drops and the wages Emiliano Amor can ask rise.
Market19 Nov 2029
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Deportes Temuco has been clear about where Diego Palacios Mena stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Ignacio Viaín
“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.
Market19 Nov 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Yerko Urra’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
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 Sebastián Molina is on it.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
Matías Candia knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matías Candia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportes Temuco can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
Ignacio Viaín: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportes Temuco have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Yerko Urra 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 Oct 2029
Iván Leszczuk 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 dugout15 Oct 2029
Pedro Felipe gets it from the manager
“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.
Market15 Oct 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Deportes Temuco would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
Thomas González asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match15 Oct 2029
Position 4 on 45 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jun 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Deportes Temuco people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
Ignacio Viaín: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Deportes Temuco have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market25 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Politino will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportes Temuco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Iván Leszczuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Deportes Temuco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamín Gazzolo 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 dugout25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
The name of Rodrigo Fernández has come up in conversations Deportes Temuco were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match23 Jun 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Dec 2028
132 days out for Fernando Rolón after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportes Temuco will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market4 Dec 2028
“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 Deportes Temuco, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Dec 2028
Only the photograph left for Agustín Zapata
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Zapata will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportes Temuco the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Yerko Urra 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Iván Leszczuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Dec 2028
The medical room confirms 47 days on the sidelines for Celso Castillo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets4 Dec 2028
Deportes Recoleta have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets4 Dec 2028
A loan move for Joaquín Varela is in the works
Deportes Temuco have made the call to Durazno. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Nov 2028
Yerko Urra in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportes Temuco this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Deportes Temuco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Leszczuk 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 dugout13 Nov 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Oct 2028
Benjamín Gazzolo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Deportes Temuco training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Iván Leszczuk 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Deportes Temuco is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Palacios Mena, and the manager let it.
Market30 Oct 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ignacio Viaín has his answer from Deportes Temuco; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Deportes Temuco, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Deportes Temuco. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad30 Oct 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Deportes Temuco may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Yerko Urra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
The numbers do not look good at Deportes Temuco
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Iván Leszczuk 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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
168% of the income goes out in wages at Deportes Temuco
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market23 Oct 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Diego Palacios Mena has his answer from Deportes Temuco; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Viaín, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
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.
Market23 Oct 2028
The Yerko Urra story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yerko Urra signs something — a contract at Deportes Temuco or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.