Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Parana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luis Salazar 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willian José 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 Parana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Franco Daranno’s negotiating for him
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Igor Cariús 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.
The target is the manager, the approach is real, and the compensation clause is the whole conversation. Clubs deny this kind of story right up until the photograph.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willian José 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.
Fortaleza will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Breno Pereira has pre-agreed a move to Parana, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Parana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Willian José will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Parana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Willian José was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Alexsandro and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Parana would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Maxwell is 34, with 37 appearances behind him, and Parana will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Diego Cabrera has written the date down.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Parana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Parana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Igor Cariús was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Willian José 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 is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Parana told Caíque something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
21 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.
12 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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Parana can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Parana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
19 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
10 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Parana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Igor Cariús 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Willian José 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.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Parana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Parana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Santos is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Luis Salazar will call it something else in private.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Parana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Parana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Parana can tell you which week it ends in.
The offer from Hapoel Raanana for Murillo Santos 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Willian José 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.
16 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Parana can tell you which week it ends in.
Igor Cariús 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 Willian José 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. KV Oostende have kept their man, and Parana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Parana have lost him in all but the paperwork.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Parana can tell you which week it ends in.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Luis Salazar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Samuel Santos 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
In brief
The dugoutWillian José knocks on the manager's door
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Parana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 against Atletico Goianiense, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Parana and Mirassol have settled on $2.2M. 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 Parana 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 Parana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Flamengo is saying, and nobody at Parana is enjoying the guessing.
13 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.
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana 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 Parana can pretend not to have heard.
Parana had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sport Recife, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Willian José 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.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Parana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Parana asked and Mirassol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Igor Cariús 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.
In brief
SquadSamuel Santos falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
“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 Parana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Mouscron is saying, and nobody at Parana is enjoying the guessing.
Igor Cariús was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willian José 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Parana can tell you which week it ends in.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Parana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Parana 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 Parana can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. João Chagas has just signed for Parana, and for once the answer mattered.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Diego Cabrera 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.
$440.0K on the table at Santos. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Parana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
Transfer targetsNo deal for Léo Pereira at that price
102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Parana have done the hard part with Mirassol, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alexsandro has just signed for Parana, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 Parana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Parana 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.
Igor Cariús and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Santos 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 words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
9 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.
Position 9 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Parana can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Parana 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 Parana 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 Willian José 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. Wanderers have kept their man, and Parana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 121 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.
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.
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Parana can tell you which week it ends in.
Samuel Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matheus Araújo is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The words a physio says slowly. 131 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.
Atlético Mineiro go through and Parana go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Parana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Luis Salazar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 May 2029
Samuel Santos 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 words a physio says slowly. 139 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Parana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Samuel Santos 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Parana has been clear about where Patrick Allan stands, which is more than many ever get.
146 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Parana lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Parana can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Parana 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 Matheus Araújo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
99 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Parana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Santos 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 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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Samuel Santos
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Patrick Allan’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Parana needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutDiego Cabrera knocks on the manager’s door
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Parana, and it is not being withdrawn.
Igor Cariús 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 Jorge 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 Parana has been clear about where Cantionilo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Salazar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Jorge is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Lucas Bueno has written the date down.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Igor Cariús was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jorge 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Parana, another week without a signature from Willian José.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Parana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Three points for Parana, 1‑0 the final word against America Mineiro in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Parana training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Franco Daranno is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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 Maxwell.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Felipe Farias, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Parana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Parana can tell you which week it ends in.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
America Mineiro next, and one man in the Parana dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Luis Salazar 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Parana will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
9 combined actions and 6.68. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Parana and Botafogo have settled on $2.3M. 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.
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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Parana have done the hard part with Santos, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Parana asked and Bahia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Parana they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Parana had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Juventude, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Igor Cariús 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Igor Cariús 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Parana 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 Parana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Igor Cariús 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Felipe Farias after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Parana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jorge was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Maxwell 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 words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Parana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
7 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.
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.
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Parana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
0‑3 to Santa Cruz, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Igor Cariús 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 Franco Daranno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Parana dressing room in a hurry
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Parana 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 Parana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Igor Cariús 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.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Parana 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 Parana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.