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.
Daniel Lima 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.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Daniel Lima and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Canobbio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vinicinho. 2‑0 against Fortaleza, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Something was said to Vinicinho and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bragantino people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fernando provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 The request is on a desk at Bragantino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bragantino they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Bragantino asked and Corinthians 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 want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Bragantino hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. São Bernardo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tiago Lopes has, at São Bernardo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Operário Ferroviário wanted more than $12.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cuiabá waiting with a shirt. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. São Bernardo have done the hard part with Botafogo-PB, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bragantino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
São Bernardo asked and Botafogo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lyanco 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.
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Zé Carlos 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at São Bernardo has been clear about where Bruninho stands, which is more than many ever get.
The offer from Santos for Vitor Eudes was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around São Bernardo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Caio Neves will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
São Bernardo asked and Bragantino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The 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 21-year-old it feels ownership of. João Fernandes 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at São Bernardo can tell you which week it ends in.
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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout31 May 2032
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 0‑3 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
Boardroom31 May 2032
90% of the income goes out in wages at São Bernardo
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason São Bernardo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo 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 Zé Carlos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at São Bernardo has been clear about where Rodrigo Leal stands, which is more than many ever get.
7.52, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. São Bernardo had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout24 May 2032
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the São Bernardo dressing room was either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lyanco 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hollman McCormick. 2‑1 against Ferroviária, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. São Bernardo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. João Fernandes wants continental football; whether São Bernardo can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tobías Villalba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason São Bernardo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom3 May 2032
An order from above at São Bernardo: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hollman McCormick. 2‑0 against Criciúma, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo 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 Bruninho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitor Eudes, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
Somebody else is better right now than Nathan Cruz
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at São Bernardo has been clear about where Rodriguinho stands, which is more than many ever get.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
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.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” São Bernardo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Edson Miranda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Lyanco 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad19 Apr 2032
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruninho 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. Caio Rocha 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. Romário is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Cristiano Lopes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lyanco 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.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Zé Carlos 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.
Squad12 Apr 2032
5 new faces, and São Bernardo 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.
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.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Vitor Eudes’s negotiating for him
The dugoutZé Carlos asks for a word with the manager
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lyanco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2032
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruninho is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. São Bernardo told Agustín Pérez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rodrigo Leal trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. São Bernardo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Talles Brener will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruninho 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 at São Bernardo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. São Bernardo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. São Bernardo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lyanco 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 2032
Zé Carlos falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rodrigo Andrade signs something — a contract at São Bernardo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lyanco signs something — a contract at São Bernardo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Talles Brener is on it.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason São Bernardo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Samuel Peixoto and São Bernardo agree another 4 years.
Nobody at São Bernardo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
Boardroom$783.5K a year onto the São Bernardo books
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason São Bernardo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Talles Brener will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
Lyanco 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Caike has, at São Bernardo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at São Bernardo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee São Bernardo could ask drops and the wages Joelson can ask rise.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at São Bernardo, another week without a signature from Correia.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Caio Neves will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lyanco signs something — a contract at São Bernardo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pablo Estigarribia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Vitor Eudes’s negotiating for him
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason São Bernardo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Edson Miranda has agreed terms with Manaus for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tobías Villalba and São Bernardo agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marcos Vinicius trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. São Bernardo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lyanco 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tobías Villalba and São Bernardo agree another 4 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Carlos Aravena is on it.
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 145 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo 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 Tobías Villalba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Samuel Atehortúa has his answer from São Bernardo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Something was said to Tadeo Polli and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vitor Eudes signs something — a contract at São Bernardo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutJoelson asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutMatheus Geres has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason São Bernardo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lyanco signs something — a contract at São Bernardo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutTalles Brener has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutJoelson asks for a word with the manager
MarketThe clock does Vitor Eudes’s negotiating for him
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. João Fernandes wants continental football; whether São Bernardo can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tobías Villalba 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.
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 Rodriguinho is on it.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from ABC for Caio Neves was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The name of Lyanco has come up in conversations São Bernardo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Talles Brener will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. São Bernardo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. São Bernardo will try again when the window opens; Novorizontino may not be selling by then.
Lyanco 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.
Squad5 Jan 2032
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tobías Villalba 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Matheus Geres
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Novorizontino this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The phone has started ringing about Vitor Eudes again, and this time the name on the line is São Paulo. São Bernardo are listening politely and promising nothing.
São Bernardo offered $1.3M; Atlético Mineiro said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The fee is $160.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Brusque drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad29 Dec 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Peixoto 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 offer went to Atlético Mineiro this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. São Bernardo have done the hard part with Brusque, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
João Fernandes is 20, and São Bernardo have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The clubs have shaken hands with Grêmio; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and São Bernardo have had the benefit of it.
The offer went to Ferroviária this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 46 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” São Bernardo may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets8 Dec 2031
$1.2M settles it between the clubs for Arthur Novaes
Botafogo have accepted the money. What São Bernardo do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The phone has started ringing about Vitor Eudes again, and this time the name on the line is Paysandu. São Bernardo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Talles Brener will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
São Bernardo offered $2.5M; América de Natal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Everything agreed with Inter de Limeira, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Farías will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Dec 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Minute 87, against Botafogo-SP, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.59 for the rest of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luiz Otávio will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Euder 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at São Bernardo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Vitor Eudes’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and São Bernardo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lyanco 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 Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at São Bernardo, another week without a signature from Martín Farías.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Farías will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at São Bernardo pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 107% of everything São Bernardo earn
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Peixoto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 7.42. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout27 Oct 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Squad20 Oct 2031
8 new faces, and São Bernardo 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.
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.
Nobody at São Bernardo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Luiz Otávio has agreed terms with Brusque for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Lyanco 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 Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. São Bernardo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Athletic Club next, and one man in the São Bernardo dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
The dugoutJoelson asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Farías will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Peixoto is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zé Carlos, and the manager let it.
Boardroom6 Oct 2031
105% of the income goes out in wages at São Bernardo
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” São Bernardo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Correia is living that version at São Bernardo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Marcos Vinicius.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
6 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lyanco was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Peixoto is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. São Bernardo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bruninho commits to São Bernardo for another 4 years.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at São Bernardo, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Boardroom8 Sep 2031
111% of the income goes out in wages at São Bernardo
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.
Squad8 Sep 2031
A place in the month's best eleven for Agustín Pérez
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Agustín Pérez has come out of that comparison in the side, and São Bernardo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at São Bernardo, and 8 appearances in 35 say he has earned the hearing.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joelson, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Sep 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Something was said to Joelson and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Carlos Aravena has his answer from São Bernardo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Khauan scored in the 88th minute, Ferroviária had already begun thinking about the journey home, and São Bernardo took the lot.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.81 for the rest of it.
Everybody at São Bernardo saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Oliveira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lyanco 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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. São Bernardo told Zé Carlos something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and CSA were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason São Bernardo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tobías Villalba is living that version at São Bernardo, and it tends to show in the first month.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $57.9K of what São Bernardo paid for Santino González is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at São Bernardo can tell you which week it ends in.
São Bernardo asked and São Paulo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 against Botafogo-SP, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Vitor Eudes again, and this time the name on the line is Paysandu. São Bernardo are listening politely and promising nothing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pedrinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom21 Jul 2031
São Bernardo close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. São Bernardo have done the hard part with Atlético Mineiro, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. São Bernardo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around São Bernardo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
São Bernardo and Botafogo have settled on $1.8M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
São Bernardo offered $110.0K; Santos said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. São Bernardo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. São Bernardo have done the hard part with Guarani, 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 São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
São Bernardo have gone to Santos 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. São Bernardo have done the hard part with Botafogo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lyanco 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Guarani have kept their man, and São Bernardo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ypiranga go through and São Bernardo go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Add another name to the list: Caxias have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vitor Eudes. The answer from São Bernardo has not changed — yet.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pedrinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
São Bernardo offered $1.9M; Corinthians said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paysandu have kept their man, and São Bernardo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
São Bernardo have made the call to Santos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Inter de Limeira will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The deal that would have taken Lyanco to Ferroviária has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to São Bernardo with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
São Bernardo have gone to Corinthians 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.
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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Martín Farías 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.
São Bernardo and Guarani have settled on $370.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo 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 Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
São Bernardo asked and Santos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. São Bernardo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lyanco was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation São Bernardo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Two goals and a mark of 8.58 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matheus Brito will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.92, and 2 involvements.
In brief
SquadMarcos Vinicius falls out with a teammate over standards
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pedrinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodriguinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
7.46, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad12 May 2031
Talles Brener 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 dugout12 May 2031
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Matheus Brito has his answer from São Bernardo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutRuan Carvalho is still being punished for one mistake
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
Lyanco 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at São Bernardo can tell you which week it ends in.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matheus Brito will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A mark of 7.66, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad28 Apr 2031
Rodriguinho 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.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Denilson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at São Bernardo, another week without a signature from Samuel Atehortúa.
Position 6 on 63 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Lyanco 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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Raised voices on the training ground at São Bernardo
It involved Denilson, it was loud enough to reach the car park, and it was over by lunch. Dressing rooms run hot; the ones that should worry you are the silent ones.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at São Bernardo, another week without a signature from Denilson.
Nobody at São Bernardo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matheus Brito will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around São Bernardo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Lyanco 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 Mar 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius 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.
10 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Agustín Pérez signs something — a contract at São Bernardo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
63 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. João Luiz is living that version at São Bernardo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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. São Bernardo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Tadeo Polli falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A new face in his position, and Marcos Vinicius suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. São Bernardo have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Position 6 on 63 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at São Bernardo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
Lyanco 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 Mar 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius 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 is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation São Bernardo are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pedrinho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at São Bernardo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at São Bernardo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Lyanco 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 Mar 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius 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.
Everybody at São Bernardo saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Santino González has his answer from São Bernardo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. São Bernardo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Lyanco and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Feb 2031
9 new faces, and São Bernardo 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.
Squad24 Feb 2031
Rodriguinho 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.” Hollman McCormick has his answer from São Bernardo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Mahmoud Salah is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius 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.
63 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at São Bernardo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Lyanco 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 Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at São Bernardo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at São Bernardo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. São Bernardo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ruan Carvalho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Luiz Otávio is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
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 Mahmoud Salah is on it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Bruninho is living that version at São Bernardo, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Words at São Bernardo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Vinicius is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fluminense have kept their man, and São Bernardo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and São Bernardo have gone and got theirs early.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Rodriguinho has, at São Bernardo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around São Bernardo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Lyanco 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 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what São Bernardo can pretend not to have heard.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $347.6K of what São Bernardo paid for Arthur Baggio is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Vinicius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lagarto have kept their man, and São Bernardo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Martín Farías has his answer from São Bernardo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. São Bernardo will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” São Bernardo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Náutico will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Bruno Leanza has pre-agreed a move to São Bernardo, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. São Bernardo will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
A loan enquiry to Sport Recife: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad30 Dec 2030
Tadeo Polli falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at São Bernardo, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at São Bernardo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Remo paid $240.0K and São Bernardo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tadeo Polli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.