Marked for Brian González
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Sep 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lautaro Acosta
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Juve Stabia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Juve Stabia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 Sep 2029
Only the photograph left for Enzo Cabrera
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Enzo Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Juve Stabia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market10 Sep 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Juve Stabia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cremonese is saying, and nobody at Juve Stabia is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
Still nobody in the Juve Stabia dugout
21 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.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
The window shuts on the Elías Torancio deal
Juve Stabia ran out of time with Novara. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Market10 Sep 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Elia Petrelli has his answer from Juve Stabia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Matteo Zazza
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Jul 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market30 Jul 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Juve Stabia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market30 Jul 2029
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Trento had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market30 Jul 2029
“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 Juve Stabia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Juve Stabia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AS Roma, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market30 Jul 2029
The offer from Altamura for Marco Bevilacqua 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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Nicolò Buso 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 targets30 Jul 2029
Juve Stabia asked and AS Roma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elian Demirović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jun 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Juve Stabia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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 Juve Stabia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Juve Stabia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Trento, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Juve Stabia have done the hard part with Sampdoria, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad25 Jun 2029
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
The offer went to Torres 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Juve Stabia can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
No deal for Ahmed Sidibé at that price
Juve Stabia offered $140.0K; Venezia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Jun 2029
The season ends: position 15 for Juve Stabia
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 42 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Market11 Jun 2029
The offer from Vicenza for Christian Pierobon 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.
Market11 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Audace Cerignola waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Juve Stabia is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Alan Ledesma arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Alan Ledesma has, at Juve Stabia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market11 Jun 2029
“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 Juve Stabia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Jun 2029
Only the photograph left for Federico Caia
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Federico Caia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Juve Stabia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Cagliari wanted more than $890.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
$110.0K on the table at Venezia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets11 Jun 2029
Juve Stabia have gone to Casertana with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Apr 2029
“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 dugout30 Apr 2029
“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.
Market30 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Juve Stabia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Eivind Helland and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Kevin Piscopo 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.
Match28 Apr 2029
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Marco Nasti had Juve Stabia level again within 2 minutes, and Pescara never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Juve Stabia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
Nikita Contini dropped after a run of poor form
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Apr 2029
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.41, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market23 Apr 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Juve Stabia can pretend not to have heard.
Market23 Apr 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gregorio Morachioli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Juve Stabia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match21 Apr 2029
Marco Nasti scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Spezia, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Kevin Piscopo 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicola Pietrangeli, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Juve Stabia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
The team sheet said everything about Nikita Contini
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 Nikita Contini.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Apr 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thomas Vettorel will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Juve Stabia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Juve Stabia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Piscopo 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 dugout2 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Matteo Zazza
“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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Brian González 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.
Loan watch2 Apr 2029
The goals keep arriving from Elia Petrelli’s exile
7 goals in 26 games at Go Ahead Eagles — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Juve Stabia updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad2 Apr 2029
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Market2 Apr 2029
Juve Stabia have let the market know Antonio Di Nardo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
Nobody at Juve Stabia 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.
Market2 Apr 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kevin Piscopo signs something — a contract at Juve Stabia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Mar 2029
Chastening afternoon for Juve Stabia
A 0‑3 beating by Mantova was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market26 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Juve Stabia can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Mar 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Juve Stabia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Eivind Helland 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eivind Helland, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Juve Stabia needed to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Juve Stabia can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Juve Stabia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Juve Stabia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Piscopo 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.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Edoardo Antoni has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Juve Stabia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Juve Stabia asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Boris Radunović, and the manager let it.
Match17 Feb 2029
Juve Stabia hit back inside 2 minutes
Parma held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Juve Stabia answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Juve Stabia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Juve Stabia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Jan 2029
“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 Juve Stabia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gregorio Morachioli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Juve Stabia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Eivind Helland 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Petko Hristov 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.
Loan watch1 Jan 2029
“I did not go to Luzern to sit and watch. I want to come back to Juve Stabia and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 24 matches say the rest.
Match30 Dec 2028
Three points for Juve Stabia, 1‑0 the final word against Catanzaro in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Juve Stabia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match1 Nov 2028
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Brian González obliged against Trento. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Juve Stabia.
Market6 Nov 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Juve Stabia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
A hand in 2 of them from Brian González — 7.56
Marked 7.56. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Juve Stabia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Piscopo 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.
Match4 Nov 2028
Mantova left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Loan watch6 Nov 2028
“I did not go to Luzern to sit and watch. I want to come back to Juve Stabia and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 16 matches say the rest.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Ninety minutes of Marco Bevilacqua at his very best
Marked 8.51. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Juve Stabia.
Match4 Nov 2028
Juve Stabia hit back inside 2 minutes
Mantova held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Juve Stabia answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Enzo Cabrera 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Oct 2028
Eivind Helland 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Petko Hristov 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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tommaso Maggioni, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Juve Stabia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
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.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“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 Oct 2028
Kevin Piscopo knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Juve Stabia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad30 Oct 2028
The formation has left Brian González behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Juve Stabia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Oct 2028
0‑3 to Cagliari, 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.
Market23 Oct 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Juve Stabia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
A move Brian González would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Brian González is living that version at Juve Stabia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Petko Hristov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Juve Stabia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Lorenzo Dalla Valle left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Apr 2028
“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 Atenas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Apr 2028
Agustín Acosta has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atenas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Atenas
Mariano Aguilera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Facundo Briñón
“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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Mihovilcevich 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 ratings24 Apr 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match22 Apr 2028
It needed Lucas Bassadone to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Oriental, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Fernando Coates after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Mar 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.
Market27 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atenas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Atenas
César 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Arzamendia 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Briñón, and the manager let it.
Market27 Mar 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Agustín Acosta has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Atenas.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Rentistas in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Fernando Souza 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 Fernando Souza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Mar 2028
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Marcos Donato: 4 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Market20 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atenas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market20 Mar 2028
Amaro García 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 Atenas can pretend not to have heard.
Match18 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Atenas's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atenas has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Atenas
César 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
Tacuarembo left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Arzamendia 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Atenas
Mariano Aguilera 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Mihovilcevich 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
Guido Sosa told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Guido Sosa has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Atenas.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Nobody on the pitch touched Maicol Borba
7.44, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Atenas had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Brian González
“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 dugout13 Mar 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match11 Mar 2028
Point won or two lost for Atenas?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Miramar Misiones? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead13 Mar 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Guido Sosa’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atenas needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. 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
Market28 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atenas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Atenas
Mariano Aguilera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Atenas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Navarro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of César
“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.
Match26 Feb 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Player of the week, judged against every other man in the division. A small award, and one most careers never collect.
Looking ahead28 Feb 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Brian González’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Atenas needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Nobody at Atenas 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
Squad17 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Atenas
Facundo Briñón and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Navarro 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Coirolo, and the manager let it.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Ferreira gets picked when it counts
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 Ferreira is on it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Atenas will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market17 Jan 2028
Atenas have let the market know Marcos Donato can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market17 Jan 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Brian González’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
Atenas keep producing them
16 graduates from an academy now rated 9 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market27 Dec 2027
Atenas say no — this time
The offer from Colon for Agustín Navarro 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.
Market27 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atenas can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atenas have done the hard part with Albion, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Atenas
Maicol Ferreira 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Navarro 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 targets27 Dec 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Amaro García 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Atenas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Agustín Acosta has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atenas 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market20 Dec 2027
Cerro come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Atenas did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Atenas
Facundo Perdomo 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
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maicol Ferreira 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 targets20 Dec 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Atenas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
A loan enquiry to River Plate: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market20 Dec 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agustín Acosta, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Dec 2027
The formation has left Joaquín Varela behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Atenas will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Lautaro Vázquez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atenas 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Atenas
Maicol Ferreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Atenas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Navarro 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Agustín Acosta
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Acosta will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atenas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Maicol Ferreira 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Atenas
Brian González 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Amaro García
“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 Nov 2027
Agustín Navarro 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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
When it matters, Ferreira plays
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.