Marked for Romário
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leiria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Martim Almeida is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jair Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The decline has begun for Romário
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Leiria is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Market29 Mar 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ibrahima Guirassy has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leiria.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
A promise honoured at Leiria
Something was said to Guillermo Varela and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Chaves next, and one man in the Leiria dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market29 Mar 2027
The Jair Silva talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leiria know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Romário 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 Leiria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 The request is on a desk at Leiria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.27 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
No thanks: Lucas Freitas rejects the move
Leiria had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Vasco da Gama, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Leiria
Juan Muñoz 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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 Leiria know it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Leiria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jair Silva 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Three points for Leiria, 3‑1 the final word against Felgueiras in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Door shut on Lima
Leiria asked and Fluminense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Leiria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Leiria
Marc Baró and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Jair Silva beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 7.84 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Leiria had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Marcelo 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Penafiel leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Jose Ferreira after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Looking ahead7 Dec 2026
Leiria take on the side everybody is chasing
Torreense arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match9 Nov 2026
Leiria up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Transfer targets9 Nov 2026
Everything was agreed with another club and then the doctor spoke. Leiria have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Juan Muñoz 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 Leiria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Gustavo Blanco 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Romário 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Oct 2026
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A brace, and Pablo Fernández takes the afternoon — 8.34
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pablo Fernández provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Romário: 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.” Leiria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Leiria
Pablo Fernández 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 Oct 2026
Martim Almeida is a better footballer than he was
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Gustavo Blanco falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Joel Sánchez, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at SuperSport United is saying, and nobody at Leiria is enjoying the guessing.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $180.0K — a club that wants Landerson enough to be asked twice.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Jair Silva
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$180.0K on the table at Moreirense. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Leiria
Pablo Fernández 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leixões have kept their man, and Leiria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Leiria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Blanco 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
Romário 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Leiria asked and Juventude said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Muñoz and Leiria agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Leiria
Juan Muñoz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Leiria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Fernández 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Famana Quizera has come up in conversations Leiria were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market3 Aug 2026
Nobody at Leiria has picked up the phone to Juan Muñoz
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Leiria are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Ricard Artero is in the works
Leiria have made the call to Girona. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Juan Quintero is in the works
Leiria have made the call to Cortulua. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.