The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Santos is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Words at Santos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lisandro Martínez 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Paquetá signs something — a contract at Santos or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Santos could ask drops and the wages Lisandro Martínez can ask rise.
72 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
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.
In brief
The dugoutTailson asks for a word with the manager
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 Santos have had the benefit of it.
The deal that would have taken Santiago Paiva to Boa has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Santos with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“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 Santos hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“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 The request is on a desk at Santos, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mateo Cassierra 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and André Silva 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 Santos they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mateo Cassierra 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.
39 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Words at Santos training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lisandro Martínez 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.
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Santos know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botev Plovdiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Algarra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Botev Plovdiv could ask drops and the wages Krešimir Vrbanac can ask rise.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Erol Dost’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Botev Plovdiv needing him to play as if none of it matters.
28 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel Naumov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botev Plovdiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Carlos Algarra 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 Krešimir Vrbanac was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 4, 28 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Dragan Grivić 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 Krešimir Vrbanac was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Nobody at Botev Plovdiv 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.
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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Mascote scored in the 88th minute, Dobrudzha had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Botev Plovdiv took the lot.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botev Plovdiv 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 Botev Plovdiv 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mascote. 1‑0 against Dobrudzha, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Nobody at Botev Plovdiv 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botev Plovdiv 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 Botev Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at Botev Plovdiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krešimir Vrbanac 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 Botev Plovdiv 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 Ventsislav Kerchev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Botev Plovdiv 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 Botev Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Algarra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Aleksa Maraš 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ventsislav Kerchev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Botev Plovdiv have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
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 Dragan Grivić is on it.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
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.” Stanislav Bozhikov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Tailson scored in the 85th minute, Lokomotiv Plovdiv had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Botev Plovdiv took the lot.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botev Plovdiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Carlos Algarra 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Botev Plovdiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Botev Plovdiv have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Botev Plovdiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botev Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tailson. 1‑0 against Arda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Tailson at his very best
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Botev Plovdiv people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tailson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botev Plovdiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A mark of 7.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.98 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Botev Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Slavia Sofia 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 offer went to Septemvri 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Botev Plovdiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Algarra 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Botev Plovdiv people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Botev Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Adam Moder has agreed terms with Montana for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Botev Plovdiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krešimir Vrbanac 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. CSKA Sofia have kept their man, and Botev Plovdiv go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
8.29. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Botev Plovdiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
$170.0K on the table at Slavia Sofia. 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 Botev Plovdiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“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 Botev Plovdiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botev Plovdiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dimitar Tonev and Botev Plovdiv agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The shirt still fits. Antonio Vutov is back at Botev Plovdiv, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Botev Plovdiv asked and CSKA 1948 said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Algarra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Spartak 1918 will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Kolyo Stanev has pre-agreed a move to Botev Plovdiv, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The offer from CSKA Sofia for Tailson 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.
Levski have accepted the money. What Botev Plovdiv do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Everything agreed with CSKA 1948, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botev Plovdiv can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Salvador Ribeiro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botev Plovdiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Tailson has agreed terms with CSKA Sofia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Dragan Grivić 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 Krešimir Vrbanac 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. Ludogorets have kept their man, and Botev Plovdiv go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Botev Plovdiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Krešimir Vrbanac 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 Franko Kovačević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Botev Plovdiv 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.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Botev Plovdiv could ask drops and the wages Tailson can ask rise.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
23 graduates, from a department now rated 11 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
In brief
SquadDeyan Lozev is the talk of the training ground