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.
Diego Matos 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.71, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Itabaiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho 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 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Mixto scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Itabaiana can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Itabaiana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Diego Matos 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
André Ramalho 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.
Barra will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Guilherme Martins has pre-agreed a move to Itabaiana, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“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; Itabaiana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Itabaiana has been clear about where Aarón Monges stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Itabaiana know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Itabaiana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vinícius Matheus and Itabaiana agree another 2 years.
Diego Matos 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 Oct 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Ezequiel González in the middle of it, and Luverdense unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Ramalho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 7.10, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
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.
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.
Diego Matos 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Abdulaziz Al-Marzooqi is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho 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 team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Tiago Borges after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutAarón Monges has become a man the manager trusts
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Itabaiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
André Ramalho falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Juan Bautista González has his answer from Itabaiana; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Itabaiana told Ezequiel González something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Tiago Borges after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Bautista González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Diego Matos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Aug 2027
André Ramalho 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 won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 7.07, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
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.
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. 9 actions, 7.50, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Itabaiana can pretend not to have heard.
André Ramalho 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Keder Junior 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.
“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; Itabaiana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Itabaiana will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Itabaiana 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 André Ramalho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Itabaiana can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Tiago Borges chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Itabaiana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Itabaiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Itabaiana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“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.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.53 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.87 beside his name.
Diego Matos 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Itabaiana and Porto Vitória in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
Diego Matos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
André Ramalho 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 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leozinho is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leonardo Moura is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Carlos Machado is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Samuel Moreira 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.
“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 Itabaiana, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho 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.
Everything was agreed with Charlton Athletic and then the doctor spoke. Itabaiana have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Vitão and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho 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.
Itabaiana asked and Rapid Bucharest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Itabaiana know it.
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.
5 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.
7.79, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
André Ramalho 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Itabaiana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Talisson 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 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Randerson 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.
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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Itabaiana have done the hard part with Gagra, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Itabaiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho 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: Jefferson Renan. 3‑1 against Maricá, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tijuana have kept their man, and Itabaiana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Rodrigo Giménez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Itabaiana and Porto Velho, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Ramalho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Kayke at his very best
Player ratingsRodrigo Giménez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Diego Matos 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 André Ramalho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Gabriel Menegon knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“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 dugout17 May 2027
Keder Junior is still being punished for one mistake
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.
In brief
Player ratingsKeder Junior could not find anything
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Itabaiana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Kayke 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vinícius Matheus 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 here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tiago Borges was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Itabaiana dressing room was either.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jefferson Renan signs something — a contract at Itabaiana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Chances created: 8. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
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.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Itabaiana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
André Ramalho was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raphael Gogoni 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.
11 combined actions and 6.40. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Tiago Borges after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Itabaiana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Kayke and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Talisson 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Fera 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Negão is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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; Itabaiana are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Itabaiana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Itabaiana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nicolas Viana is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Itabaiana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Gabriel Menegon is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Igor Lopes is still being punished for one mistake
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Keder Junior signs something — a contract at Itabaiana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Itabaiana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Itabaiana is running low.
Diego Matos 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.
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Raphael Gogoni 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 mood at Itabaiana 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.
At 21 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.
André Ramalho 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 Talisson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jefferson Renan signs something — a contract at Itabaiana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Itabaiana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
André Ramalho 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.
Juventude will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Yarlei has pre-agreed a move to Itabaiana, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Vitão is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Itabaiana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Itabaiana 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thiago Nardo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Gabriel Menegon's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Itabaiana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Igor Lopes'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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vinícius Matheus signs something — a contract at Itabaiana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” César commits to Itabaiana for another 4 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Talisson 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 spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Fábio Moura is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Igor Lopes is still being punished for one mistake
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vinícius Matheus signs something — a contract at Itabaiana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Itabaiana is running low.
Kayke 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 Jan 2027
Words at Itabaiana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. André Ramalho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ezequiel González and Itabaiana agree another 4 years.
Itabaiana asked and Coritiba said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Itabaiana know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
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.
Itabaiana have gone to Vasco da Gama 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.
Vinícius Matheus 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 Talisson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sport Recife 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Itabaiana will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Itabaiana know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Corinthians asked and Boavista said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
The phone has started ringing about Hugo again, and this time the name on the line is Cuiabá. Corinthians are listening politely and promising nothing.
Allan 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matheus Bidu 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Itabaiana will make the call about André Ramalho this week. Corinthians have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Itabaiana have done the hard part with Corinthians, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Goiânia have kept their man, and Itabaiana go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Willian Neves is still being punished for one mistake
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.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Itabaiana have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
4‑0 against Universidad Catolica, on a night that will be replayed at this club for a generation. Continental reputations are made in single evenings and this was the evening.
Two goals and a mark of 8.40 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7.92, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Memphis Depay 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Léo Agostinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juventude made Corinthians work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matheus Bidu 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 shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Hugo Souza: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
At 19 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.
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.
Marked 8.36 — 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.
7.63, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Yuri Alberto 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.
Add another name to the list: Hapoel Acre have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dieguinho. The answer from Corinthians has not changed — yet.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Matheus Bidu 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.
Minute 88, against Fluminense, 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.