1 for Philip Quinton, marked 7.96, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and CF Montreal know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and New England Revolution were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Leo Torres 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.
Matko Miljevic 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. CF Montreal told Matko Miljevic something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout28 May 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Aaron Bradley chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Columbus Crew next, and one man in the CF Montreal dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and CF Montreal know it.
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.
8 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.
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 dugout21 May 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Aaron Bradley was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the CF Montreal dressing room was either.
CF Montreal offered $700.0K; FC Cincinnati 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Godoy Cruz have kept their man, and CF Montreal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Noel Caliskan 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.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
A loan enquiry to Boca Juniors: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Dylan Adams's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Inter Miami CF in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $720.0K — a club that wants Jon Bell enough to be asked twice.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Prince Owusu. 1‑0 against DC United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
9 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.
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
$620.0K on the table at FC Cincinnati. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Matko Miljevic 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 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.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. CF Montreal have paid $1.3M for Noel Caliskan, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
CF Montreal have gone to Philadelphia Union 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.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
Vancouver Whitecaps wanted more than $110.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to FC Cincinnati 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.
“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; CF Montreal are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
CF Montreal offered $350.0K; FC Cincinnati 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Prince Owusu
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CF Montreal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CF Montreal. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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; CF Montreal are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutMatthew Evans knocks on the manager's door
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CF Montreal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Dominik Marczuk 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 easiest signature of my career.” Brendan Hines-Ike and CF Montreal agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Erik Holt has, at CF Montreal, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Philadelphia Union go through. The table said this team was good enough for months and the format does not care what the table said, which is the argument every eliminated club has had with itself since playoffs were invented.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Harvey Sarajian 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Aaron Bradley after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at CF Montreal can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at CF Montreal can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Matthew Evans 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Matthew Evans’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to CF Montreal.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Harvey Sarajian was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Howard commits to CF Montreal for another 4 years.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Aaron Bradley, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Matthew Evans
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Alvarado 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Aaron Bradley after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Brayan Ceballos’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and CF Montreal needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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; CF Montreal are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Marczuk 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.
Harvey Sarajian 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.
“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.
Position 6 on 37 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Noah Streit. 1‑0 against New York Red Bulls, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Alvarado was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Aaron Bradley on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
1‑2 to Orlando City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Marczuk 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Prince Owusu had CF Montreal level again within 4 minutes, and Orlando City never got to play with a lead at all.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Aaron Bradley to a room that had heard them before.
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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and CF Montreal know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 1‑0 win over New York City, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Marczuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Aaron Bradley kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. CF Montreal will try again when the window opens; Los Angeles Football Club may not be selling by then.
The offer from Orlando City for Earl Edwards Jr. 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.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Aaron Bradley after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nashville SC will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CF Montreal were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 8.06 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $167.7K — a club that wants Garrison Tubbs enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to LA Galaxy 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.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniel Pereira scored, was marked 7.67, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 9 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“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; CF Montreal are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about CF Montreal and Charlotte Football Club in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Harvey Sarajian 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
SquadDominik Marczuk falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
Daniel Pereira 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Aaron Bradley on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Marczuk 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.
Something was said to Jalen Neal and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CF Montreal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Aaron Bradley chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
Looking aheadCF Montreal take on the side everybody is chasing
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Aaron Bradley could afford to be generous.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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; CF Montreal are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and CF Montreal will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Aaron Bradley after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Leo Torres's mistake
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
DC United will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. CF Montreal were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The offer from Chicago Fire for Noah Streit 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.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” CF Montreal may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Up for the corner, and Samuel Piette delivers — 7.62
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Samuel Piette scored, was marked 7.62, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $503.0K — a club that wants Ayoub Jabbari enough to be asked twice.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CF Montreal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nashville SC paid $2.0M and CF Montreal took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $511.9K — a club that wants David Ayala enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to Inter Miami CF 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.
CF Montreal offered $340.0K; Sporting Kansas City 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Ceballos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Olwethu Makhanya 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at CF Montreal can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The mood at CF Montreal has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Efrain Morales wants continental football; whether CF Montreal can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CF Montreal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 CF Montreal will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. CF Montreal lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
23 games, 4 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at CF Montreal now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
CF Montreal pay $759.1K to end the manager's contract
The bill for the sacking has arrived. the manager leaves with $759.1K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
7 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.
A new manager did not pick last season’s side and does not care what it looked like. Tai Baribo has taken that personally, in the best sense, and CF Montreal are seeing a version of him the last regime had stopped seeing.
The words a physio says slowly. 123 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. the manager has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
“Another season, another badge, another dressing room to win over. I would like one pre-season at CF Montreal where somebody actually looks at me.” He belongs to Los Angeles Football Club until the spell ends; the argument is with the club that owns him.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Alexis Sánchez was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CF Montreal, another week without a signature from Wikelman Carmona.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
155 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. CF Montreal lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dominik Marczuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bode Hidalgo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at CF Montreal has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CF Montreal, another week without a signature from Luca Petrasso.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — the manager made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CF Montreal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 6.84, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
Day 40 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and CF Montreal know it.
Samuel Piette 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Marczuk 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CF Montreal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at CF Montreal. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Noah Streit did not need any: 7.99, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.74 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
12 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
The bid was some way short and CF Montreal did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Ceballos 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.
CF Montreal asked and Austin FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Andrew Robinson to a room that had heard them before.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. CF Montreal will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
The dugoutBrayan Vera asks for a word with the manager