Marked for Ignacio Vittar
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Michael Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Facundo Mansilla 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 dugout26 Jul 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ignacio Vittar and Central Córdoba SdE agree another 4 years.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Nobody at Central Córdoba SdE 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Santiago Moyano has written the date down.
Market26 Jul 2027
Central Córdoba SdE opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Fernando Martínez stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 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 Central Córdoba SdE can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Jul 2027
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Michael Santos 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 Jul 2027
Words at Central Córdoba SdE training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Pablo Pignani 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.
Looking ahead12 Jul 2027
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Independiente.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Lautaro Cano 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 Lautaro Cano is on it.
Looking ahead12 Jul 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Independiente in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Alan Aguerre has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The dugout12 Jul 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
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad24 May 2027
Michael Santos 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 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Mansilla was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Mansilla, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
Nobody at Central Córdoba SdE 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.
Market24 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fernando Martínez signs something — a contract at Central Córdoba SdE or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
Lucas González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
21 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín Flores was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and Central Córdoba SdE are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Vittar, and the manager let it.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lucas Varaldo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Central Córdoba SdE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Michael Santos has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Central Córdoba SdE 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Michael Santos 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Alan Laprida 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.
Market28 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Fernando Martínez signs something — a contract at Central Córdoba SdE or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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
Steady
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Michael Santos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market21 Dec 2026
Leonardo Marchi has left for Estudiantes in a $360.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Fernando Juárez 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Fernando Martínez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Central Córdoba SdE 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Michael Santos 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 Michael Santos trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ignacio Vittar
“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 dugout21 Dec 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Felipe Aguilar has written the date down.
Market21 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Lucas Varaldo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Javier Vallejos: 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.” Central Córdoba SdE have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Leonardo Marchi has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Central Córdoba SdE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
29 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Joaquín Flores 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Diego Barrera 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 Diego Barrera is on it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Central Córdoba SdE know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.