Marked for Paris Lock
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Rodrigo Barbosa has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 Jun 2029
Paris Lock 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 Amora can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words exchanged at Amora
Nailson 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.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
Amora asked and Farense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Bull 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.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to Goiás: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to Atlético CP: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market4 Jun 2029
Nothing to show for Francisco Valdés's season away
0 appearances, 0 clean sheets, and a goalkeeper no further forward than the day he left. Whether that belongs to him, to the club that borrowed him or to the people who arranged it is the argument Amora will have this month.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Amora, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Amora
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Amora is running low.
Market30 Apr 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 The request is on a desk at Amora, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Amora is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Nailson 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 Amora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Nailson is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Amora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rayhan Momade was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch30 Apr 2029
“I watch every Amora game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Vizela runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
Luís Fernandes 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.
Market30 Apr 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Amora asked and Leiria said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Amora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and JP Martins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Amora
Thomas Aubry 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.
Squad31 Jul 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; Amora are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Lusitânia Lourosa 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
A promise honoured at Amora
Something was said to Lautaro Machado and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jul 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 Amora, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Amora
Nailson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Amora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and JP Martins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Porto have kept their man, and Amora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 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; Amora are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Santa Clara: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
Lucas Silva has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Amora 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 dugout24 Jul 2028
Paris Lock 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.
Market24 Jul 2028
Amora have made Franco Burgos available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Amora can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Amora have gone to Moreirense 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Amora
Roan Wilson 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francisco Valdés commits to Amora for another 5 years.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Buby Katty 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 dugout12 Jun 2028
Mhleli Mabuza 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 Mhleli Mabuza is on it.
Market12 Jun 2028
Amora have let the market know Giorgio Costantini can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market12 Jun 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Amora would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 May 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 Amora, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 May 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 Amora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
A move Juan Guarino 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. Juan Guarino is living that version at Amora, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Amora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. JP Martins 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.
Market29 May 2028
Juan Guarino is 20, and Amora have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad29 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Juan Guarino and Amora agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout29 May 2028
When it matters, Lucas Silva 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.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Danilo Luís
“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 dugout29 May 2028
A promise honoured at Amora
Something was said to Fabio Conceicao and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Amora
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Amora
Roan Wilson 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Nailson 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Aug 2027
Nowhere to hide for Amora
0‑4 against Belenenses, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
The offer went to Sporting CP 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
$110.0K on the table at Moreirense. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Nailson 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paredes have kept their man, and Amora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Morais, and the manager let it.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
Nobody left the Amora dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Diego Villalba and Amora agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Nailson's mistake
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Squad
Words exchanged at Amora
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Player ratings
A day to forget for Nailson