Marked for André Oliveira
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout10 May 2027
A promise honoured at Porto B
Something was said to Zaidu Sanusi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Cardoso Varela signs something — a contract at Porto B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout10 May 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad10 May 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Porto B will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market10 May 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. André Oliveira may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad10 May 2027
Tiago Ferreira has started doing his badges
“I watch sessions differently now. I catch myself thinking about why we are doing the drill.” At 33 that is how nearly every man in a dugout started.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Porto B
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Apr 2027
The goals have deserted Porto B
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Porto B can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” André Oliveira commits to Porto B for another 4 years.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Cardoso Varela 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
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.
Match17 Apr 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Farense defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Porto B have no good answer.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 Feb 2027
At last: Porto B win one
16 matches without a win, and then this, against Penafiel. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match20 Feb 2027
9 unbeaten for Porto B
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Porto B did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
André Oliveira pops up at the right end — 7.38
7.38, 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.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. André Oliveira has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match20 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: André Oliveira. 1‑0 against Penafiel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Market22 Feb 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Porto B, another week without a signature from Cardoso Varela.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.60 on the card, and the Porto B support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
The knee: João Costa out for 21 days
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Porto B lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Porto B
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Gonçalo Sousa at 20 — 7.63
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gonçalo Sousa did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad21 Dec 2026
André Miranda is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anhá Candé and Porto B agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match19 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Maritimo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bernardo Ferreira after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
João Costa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Porto B 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
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cardoso Varela and Porto B agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Martim Cunha has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for João Teixeira
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. João Teixeira has come out of that comparison in the side, and Porto B have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
The afternoon belonged to Martim Cunha
A mark of 7.08, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of André Oliveira
“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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bernardo Ferreira after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Squad2 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Porto B lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
Torreense left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Porto B
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
When it matters, João Costa 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with João Teixeira’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 10. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
André Oliveira 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The suspension is over, which is the half of a ban nobody prints. He has watched from the stand for long enough to have opinions about the shape, and the manager now has a decision he did not have last week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Porto B
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Porto B are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dinis Rodrigues is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Vasco Sousa beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
The neighbours are next for Porto B
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Benfica B on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Tiago Ferreira
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Porto B
Diogo Fernandes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Bernardo Ferreira was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Porto B dressing room was either.
Match19 Sep 2026
Porto B and Leiria cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Leiria came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.