Marked for Miki Codina
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 Feb 2028
David Valero: 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.” Zamora have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Zamora
Markel Lozano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Zamora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jesús Owono was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Tadeo Suárez
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.
Match12 Feb 2028
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 dugout14 Feb 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Tadeo Suárez knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tadeo Suárez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“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.
In brief
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Squad
Bookings catch up with Miki Codina
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Match
Continental football is in reach for Zamora
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Market
The window shut and Abde is still in the building
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
Match8 Jan 2028
6 matches without a win for Zamora
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Zamora are no longer polite ones.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Pere Milla 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 Zamora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miki Codina and Zamora agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lugo have kept their man, and Zamora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom10 Jan 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. David Carballo has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Zamora have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dani Merchán 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 dugout10 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Ocampo, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Markel Lozano pops up at the right end — 7.69
7.69, 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.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Brian Ocampo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Zamora
Dani Merchán 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 Dec 2027
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad20 Dec 2027
The decline has begun for Pere Milla
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Zamora is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Tadeo Suárez
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Romero 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 ratings20 Dec 2027
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match18 Dec 2027
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Zamora
Javier Carbonell 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.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Graduation day at Zamora
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market23 Aug 2027
One of our own: Hugo Camacho joins the Zamora first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hugo Camacho is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market23 Aug 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrés Alonso has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market23 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nicolás Sierra 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Raúl Vega 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Romero 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Racing have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Deportivo Maldonado have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
Luismi Luengo breaks a bone — 29 days out
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.
Market2 Aug 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Zamora
Dani Merchán 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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Zamora asked and Real Sociedad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Zamora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Romero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Aug 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Zamora know which stage they are at.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to San Martín SJ: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market2 Aug 2027
Erik Ruiz is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zamora has been clear about where Erik Ruiz stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Markel Lozano 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 Jun 2027
Luismi Luengo breaks a bone — 89 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Jun 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 Zamora, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
$1.1M on the table at Villarreal. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.2M — a club that wants Iker Punzano enough to be asked twice.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Zamora
Markel Lozano 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Romero 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Jonatan Goya
“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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gael Acosta and Zamora agree another 1 years.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Betis have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
In brief
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Boardroom
Open for business: Zamora enter the window
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The dugout
Carlos Ramos knocks on the manager’s door
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The dugout
Miki Codina has been promised minutes