Marked for Thomas Ortega
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market20 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Sep 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Quilmes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Quilmes
Axel Batista 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Quilmes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Colazo 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pío Bonacci. 2‑1 against Güemes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Thomas Ortega was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Ezequiel Suárez, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 2027
So close: Thomas Ortega’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Pafos moved on, Thomas Ortega reports back to Quilmes, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market13 Sep 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
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Market13 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Lucas Romeo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucas Romeo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Quilmes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Axel Batista and Quilmes agree another 4 years.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Quilmes
Axel Batista and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Thomas Ortega 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market6 Sep 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Quilmes have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market6 Sep 2027
“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 Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Axel Batista 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 Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market6 Sep 2027
Dinamo Minsk pay $610.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Nicolás Colazo 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.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Stevenage to sit and watch. I want to come back to Quilmes and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
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Match4 Sep 2027
0‑1 to Ferro Carril Oeste, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Tiziano Moreyra
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market23 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ramiro Martínez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Quilmes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match21 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Quilmes
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match21 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Quilmes
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Quilmes can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Quilmes
Axel Batista 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Ramiro Luna 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Quilmes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Aug 2027
0‑3 to Estudiantes, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market16 Aug 2027
“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.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
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Market16 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Quilmes
Axel Batista and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Quilmes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Colazo 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Quilmes
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Quilmes can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ariel Kippes, and the manager let it.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Doors closed at Quilmes
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
“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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Quilmes
Ramiro Luna and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Nicolás Colazo 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Nicolás Colazo has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Quilmes.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Stevenage to sit and watch. I want to come back to Quilmes and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 28 matches say the rest.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
No place for Thomas Ortega on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Quilmes pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Axel Batista knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Quilmes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
“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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokomotivi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Quilmes is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market2 Aug 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Lucas Romeo reports back to Quilmes with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ramiro Martínez has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Axel Batista 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
The name of Ramiro Martínez has come up in conversations Quilmes were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Ramiro Luna 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
87% of the income goes out in wages at Quilmes
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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Ian Rasso slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ian Rasso is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Quilmes people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Chikhura had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Quilmes cannot stop winning
4 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Axel Batista 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 Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Colazo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Jun 2027
Patronato made Quilmes work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Quilmes
Agustín Lavezzi 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.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ramiro Luna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 May 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Axel Batista’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Quilmes.
The dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Match31 May 2027
The half-term report on Quilmes
Position 10, 21 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Pío Bonacci
7.89, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Quilmes had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout31 May 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ezequiel Suárez on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 May 2027
“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 Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Quilmes
Axel Batista and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Nicolás Colazo 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.
Match22 May 2027
Three points for Quilmes, 1‑0 the final word against Güemes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings24 May 2027
The afternoon belonged to Pío Bonacci
A mark of 7.77, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of David Ledesma
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout24 May 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout24 May 2027
Thiago Drago knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Quilmes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 May 2027
Quilmes sink to position 16
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market17 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Quilmes
Ramiro Luna 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Nicolás Colazo 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 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thiago Drago, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
Match15 May 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. San Martín came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 2027
Axel Batista 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 Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 May 2027
Axel Batista was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ulises Vera and Quilmes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ramiro Luna was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match8 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match8 May 2027
Quilmes hit back inside 1 minutes
Ferro Carril Oeste held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Quilmes answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Quilmes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market3 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Match1 May 2027
At last: Quilmes win one
8 matches without a win, and then this, against Los Andes. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Quilmes
Axel Batista 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ulises Vera and Quilmes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Quilmes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Colazo 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.
Match1 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pío Bonacci. 1‑0 against Los Andes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Pío Bonacci
7.63, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Quilmes had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Mauro Fernández
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Axel Batista asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Quilmes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market5 Apr 2027
Thomas Ortega 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 Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match3 Apr 2027
4 matches without a win for Quilmes
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Quilmes are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Matías Vilalta is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Quilmes
Ramiro Luna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Colazo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Apr 2027
Late, late show earns Quilmes a point
Minute 90, against Alvarado, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Stevenage to sit and watch. I want to come back to Quilmes and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Joaquín Rabaglio
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Quilmes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market29 Mar 2027
Ramiro Luna 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 Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Axel Batista 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 Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Quilmes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ramiro Luna 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
A bad afternoon for Quilmes against Madryn
1‑2 to Madryn, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout29 Mar 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 1‑2 Ezequiel Suárez left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramiro Martínez, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting José Barreto's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Quilmes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market22 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ramiro Luna was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Quilmes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Colazo 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
Ramiro Luna 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
75 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Quilmes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
21 days out for Manuel Jove after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Quilmes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nicolás Colazo commits to Quilmes for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Axel Batista 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Pío Bonacci’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Quilmes.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Ezequiel Suárez could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Quilmes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Manuel Jove breaks a bone — 28 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Quilmes
Ramiro Luna 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Colazo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match27 Feb 2027
A bad afternoon for Quilmes against Almagro
0‑2 to Almagro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Agustín Bolívar
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Manuel Jove breaks a bone — 63 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ramiro Luna 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Agustín Bolívar 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.
Loan watch25 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Stevenage to sit and watch. I want to come back to Quilmes and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 0 matches say the rest.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Axel Batista knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Quilmes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market25 Jan 2027
The Axel Batista story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Axel Batista signs something — a contract at Quilmes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Market25 Jan 2027
Quilmes have let the market know Luciano Recalde can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Quilmes people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Manuel Jove out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Quilmes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Jan 2027
La Luz come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Quilmes did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Matías Vilalta is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Quilmes
Ramiro Luna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nicolás Colazo 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
José Barreto 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Manuel Jove breaks a bone — 92 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Dec 2026
Thomas Ortega 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 Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Quilmes
Axel Batista and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The step up is real for Kevin Soria
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Colazo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market28 Dec 2026
Ulises Vera comes back from a loan that worked
15 appearances and 4 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 132% of the Quilmes income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Joaquín Novillo
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Ramiro Luna 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Leonardo Sassi damages knee ligaments — 92 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Manuel Jove out for 107 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Quilmes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
Quilmes sell a favourite for $3.8M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Aaron Spetale was one of the reasons people came, and $3.8M does not replace that by itself.
Market14 Dec 2026
Aaron Spetale has left for Nacional in a $3.8M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Axel Batista 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Raúl Lozano 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Jano Coronel
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Quilmes have made Thomas Ortega available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Quilmes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
137 days out for Manuel Jove after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Quilmes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market16 Nov 2026
Thomas Ortega 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 Quilmes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Raúl Lozano 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 Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Colazo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Thiago Drago 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Aaron Spetale’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Joaquín Canadell is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Leonardo Sassi
135 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Quilmes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 Quilmes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Quilmes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market2 Nov 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Quilmes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Raúl Lozano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Gauna, and the manager let it.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 121% of the Quilmes income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Torpedo Moscow to sit and watch. I want to come back to Quilmes and fight for my place.” 9 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Quilmes
A 0‑3 beating by Maipú was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market28 Sep 2026
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Quilmes's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Quilmes has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Quilmes
Raúl Lozano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nicolás Colazo 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Ramiro Luna 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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Quilmes are still strangers to each other
31 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.