Marked for Alan Olinick
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Aug 2027
Alan Olinick hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A career in one shirt: Axel Oyola
10 seasons and 138 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Market2 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Racing
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“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.
Match31 Jul 2027
0‑1 to Los Andes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Olinick 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 19 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Miguel Bianchi to a room that had heard them before.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Jul 2027
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
A brace, and Pablo Chavarría takes the afternoon — 9.08
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pablo Chavarría provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match12 Jul 2027
Racing up to position 3
40 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Match10 Jul 2027
Racing make home a hard place to visit
10 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.
Match10 Jul 2027
6 unbeaten for Racing
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Racing did not have in the autumn.
Market12 Jul 2027
Unión de Santa Fe pay $190.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. 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
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Squad
A row about effort at Racing
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Axel Oyola at his very best
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Boardroom
Wages swallow 121% of the Racing income
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Up for the corner, and Alan Olinick delivers — 7.50
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alan Olinick scored, was marked 7.50, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Racing
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market5 Jul 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Chavarría was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Jul 2027
Nobody wins at Racing
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Match3 Jul 2027
A 2‑1 win over Gimnasia y Tiro, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
Joel Erlinch hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Racing make home a hard place to visit
8 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Olinick 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 May 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 May 2027
Abel Bustos in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 May 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout31 May 2027
Felipe Bruno gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad31 May 2027
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Olinick 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.
Squad31 May 2027
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match31 May 2027
Halfway: Racing sit in position 6
26 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The form table has caught Matías Romero
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The dugout
Matías Machado knocks on the manager’s door
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad24 May 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Gonzalo Rostagno
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Racing will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad24 May 2027
Pablo Chavarría 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.
Match22 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergio González. 2‑0 against San Miguel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout24 May 2027
Alan Olinick gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout24 May 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Miguel Bianchi could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Pablo Chavarría 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages eat 118% of everything Racing earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Valsangiácomo, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
The form table has caught Felipe Bruno
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.
Match15 May 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout17 May 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad17 May 2027
One booking too many, and Gabriel Aranda sits out. Racing lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
At 39 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad10 May 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Brian Olivera 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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Olinick was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Match8 May 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Tristán Suárez leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market10 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing, another week without a signature from Gonzalo Rostagno.
The dugout10 May 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Miguel Bianchi after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Gabriel Aranda pops up at the right end — 7.66
7.66, 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Abel Bustos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
200 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Olinick 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matías Machado, and the manager let it.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages swallow 101% of the Racing income
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 dugout19 Apr 2027
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.
In brief
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Match
Gabriel Aranda rescues a point for Racing
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Looking ahead
Racing take on the side everybody is chasing
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match27 Mar 2027
0‑3 to Atlanta, 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ezequiel Sánchez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Alan Olinick gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Doors closed at Racing
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Miguel Bianchi after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The plan did not have a place for Ezequiel Sánchez
Nobody at Racing is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pablo Chavarría and Racing agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Racing
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Mar 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Sergio González’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Racing.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Olinick 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A mark of 7.82, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“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.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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.” Miguel Bianchi, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Market1 Mar 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Match27 Feb 2027
A bad afternoon for Racing against Maipú
0‑1 to Maipú, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Alan Olinick 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Taborda, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Miguel Bianchi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market1 Mar 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Valentín Dutruel has his answer from Racing; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
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 7.94 for the rest of it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Racing may not be able to give Abel Bustos what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Abel Bustos wants continental football; whether Racing can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Whatever happens, Racing do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match20 Feb 2027
Three points for Racing, 2‑0 the final word against Güemes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad22 Feb 2027
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The Racing board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Racing
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
1 academy players handed senior numbers at Racing
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market8 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Juan Pablo Cabrera 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Alan Olinick 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.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Racing board go back on their word
Something was promised, a deadline passed, and it did not arrive. Trust inside a football club is built over years and spent in an afternoon.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Miguel Bianchi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Abel Bustos 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 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Olinick was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 100% of the Racing income
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
Axel Oyola asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Racing will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Abel Bustos in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Alan Olinick 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alan Olinick has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Racing.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Racing will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Alan Olinick: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Racing
Abel Bustos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Matías Machado
“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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Rinaudo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market11 Jan 2027
No place for Ramiro Jara in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ramiro Jara has his answer from Racing; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Sebastián Marfort has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Racing 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Racing may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market28 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Kevin Romero
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kevin Romero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Racing
Abel Bustos 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
183% of the income goes out in wages at Racing
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Racing
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Olinick was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Matías Sánchez
“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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Facundo Taborda asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad7 Dec 2026
61 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Racing
Abel Bustos 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezequiel Sánchez, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Racing training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ricardo Centurión 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Joaquín Medina is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Racing has been clear about where Joaquín Medina stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market7 Dec 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Alan Olinick may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Axel Oyola asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.