Marked for Ali Houary
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Nov 2027
“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.
Match13 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Elche
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 ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Nov 2027
David Alaba 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 Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Son 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Pelayo
“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
Crisis
The terraces8 Nov 2027
Anger at Elche spills outside the ground
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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Ali Houary runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market8 Nov 2027
“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.
Match6 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Elche's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Elche has to find a result from somewhere.
Match6 Nov 2027
The run at home goes on for Elche
11 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Elche
David Alaba 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Elche training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Germán Valera 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.
Squad8 Nov 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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Marked 8.35 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 42. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match23 Oct 2027
Whatever happens, Elche do not lose
16 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.
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Elche
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Elche is running low.
Market25 Oct 2027
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Oct 2027
4 matches without a win for Elche
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Elche are no longer polite ones.
Match23 Oct 2027
Nobody wins at Elche
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Elche training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Son 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Elche
Ali Houary 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
The goals have deserted Elche
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Elche can tell you which week it ends in.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Oct 2027
15 unbeaten for Elche
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 15 matches without defeat is a foundation Elche did not have in the autumn.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Bouke Boersma: 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.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Germán Valera 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Ali Houary 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 Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Son 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
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 37. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
Anger at Elche spills outside the ground
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.
Match9 Oct 2027
14 unbeaten for Elche
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 14 matches without defeat is a foundation Elche did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Elche
David Alaba 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Elche training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Germán Valera 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.
Match9 Oct 2027
Nobody wins at Elche
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Elche, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Pelayo 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Too much change too quickly at Elche
9 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Elche
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Elche is running low.
Match25 Sep 2027
No mercy from Elche
Cádiz will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Elche were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market27 Sep 2027
“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 Elche, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match25 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Elche
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The match ball belongs to Germán Valera, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Elche
David Alaba 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Elche training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Germán Valera 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 terraces27 Sep 2027
Elche supporters have found a favourite in Ali Houary
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ali Houary 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Sep 2027
Tete Morente 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 Elche can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.42, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Elche may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ali Houary is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match4 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Elche
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market6 Sep 2027
The name of Federico Redondo has come up in conversations Elche were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Germán Valera 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A club back home comes in for Matías Molina
The enquiry everybody at Elche was hoping would not arrive has arrived. He has never pretended he did not want to go back, and now there is somewhere to go back to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
Business is business: Abiel Osorio goes
Racing Genk paid $11.6M and Elche took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Grady Diangana: 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.” Elche have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
Elche sell a favourite for $11.6M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Abiel Osorio was one of the reasons people came, and $11.6M does not replace that by itself.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ali Houary is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Alaba and Elche agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
David Alaba 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 Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
It is arithmetic now, and the arithmetic is done. A summer of hard questions starts early at Elche, and next season's fixture list reads very differently.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Elche
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Elche
David Alaba 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Elche training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Germán Valera 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
A season away well spent by Ali Houary
40 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Elche now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of John Chetauya
“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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Talks stall between Elche and Son
“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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
When it matters, David Alaba 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Intake day at the Elche academy
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Market
The shop window has Matia Barzic in it
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
The fee is $3.3M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Zaragoza drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Alejandro Iturbe is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
David Alaba 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 Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Jun 2027
Josan Ferrández has left for Gijón in a $530.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Germán Valera 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
The Yago Santiago conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Getafe will make the call about Yago Santiago this week. Elche have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
Only the photograph left for David Alaba
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Alaba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Elche the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 May 2027
Remember the name: Endrick
He is 20, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad17 May 2027
David Alaba 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 Elche this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 May 2027
Still nobody has beaten Mirandés
The unbeaten run reaches 19. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 May 2027
3‑0, and Fran Pérez took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Mirandés tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Both of them Fran Pérez's — 8.44
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match17 May 2027
Mirandés refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 68 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad17 May 2027
Alberto Marí 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Mirandés training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Nikić 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 ratings17 May 2027
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 May 2027
Fran Pérez is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.25 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Apr 2027
Still nobody has beaten Mirandés
The unbeaten run reaches 15. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Arsen Zakharyan 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Santiago Vargas gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Santiago Vargas has just signed for Mirandés, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Igor Nikić 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.
Squad19 Apr 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Burgos defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market19 Apr 2027
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Mirandés have gone and got theirs early.
Market19 Apr 2027
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Tom Finch is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match20 Mar 2027
Mirandés win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Córdoba will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Match20 Mar 2027
Still nobody has beaten Mirandés
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Arsen Zakharyan 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Arsen Zakharyan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Mirandés.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
At 23 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 8.07 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Aarón Martín 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Adán Gurdiel 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match6 Mar 2027
Whatever happens, Mirandés do not lose
9 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The Mirandés board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Adán Gurdiel and Mirandés agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Arsen Zakharyan 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Igor Nikić 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
Upbeat
Market1 Mar 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 Mirandés can pretend not to have heard.
Match27 Feb 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Mirandés did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Feb 2027
Three points for Mirandés, 1‑0 the final word against Gijón in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Ali Houary runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 32. 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
Still nobody has beaten Mirandés
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Nikola Maraš 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Igor Nikić 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikola Maraš, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Feb 2027
Nikola Maraš 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 Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Feb 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Mirandés did not have in the autumn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Mirandés training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Nikić 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adán Gurdiel, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Ali Houary runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Guille Donoso 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
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 47. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market1 Feb 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 Mirandés can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.27, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Guille Donoso: 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.” Mirandés have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match30 Jan 2027
Mirandés make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Mirandés have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Jan 2027
Three points for Mirandés, 3‑2 the final word against Albacete in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Mirandés supporters have found a favourite in Ali Houary
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ali Houary 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Igor Nikić, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Ali Houary runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Arsen Zakharyan 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javi Hernàndez. 2‑0 against Leganés, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Adán Gurdiel 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.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Marked 7.96. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Nikola Maraš 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Esteban Pourcher is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Igor Nikić 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.43 on the card, and the Mirandés support went home talking about one name.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Match9 Jan 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Castellón defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 50. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Dec 2026
Mirandés win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Real Sociedad B will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mirandés may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Alberto Marí 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Mirandés training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Nikić 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 terraces21 Dec 2026
The crowd has taken to Pablo López
At 20 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pablo López. 1‑0 against Real Sociedad B, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Fran Pérez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Arsen Zakharyan 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 Nov 2026
Igor Nikić 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 terraces30 Nov 2026
At 23 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Fernando Silva
“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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 7.31 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Mirandés had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Arsen Zakharyan 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 terraces19 Oct 2026
The crowd has taken to Ali Houary
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Three points for Mirandés, 1‑0 the final word against Andorra in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Arsen Zakharyan at his very best
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Mirandés.
Squad19 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 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 Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Racing Santander, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Igor Nikić
“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.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Oct 2026
11 new faces, and Mirandés 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Darío Hidalgo 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.
In brief
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Player ratings
Ali Houary runs at them all day
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The terraces
Everybody has an opinion about Igor Nikić
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nikola Maraš 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 Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Mirandés keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Zaragoza, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Nobody could get near Ali Houary
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Adán Gurdiel 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.
Squad28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Martín Pascual'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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
A squad written off a fortnight ago has closed ranks. Whatever was said behind that door, it has held so far.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Sep 2026
Cup progress for Mirandés
A 0‑3 win over Las Palmas, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match16 Sep 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Pablo López obliged against Las Palmas. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Mirandés.
Match16 Sep 2026
Mirandés win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 105th minute. Las Palmas will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
A cup hiding at Las Palmas leaves Mirandés explaining themselves
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Pablo López at 20 — 7.87
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Pablo López did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Nikola Maraš 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Miguel Román 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 terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Pablo López 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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Mirandés 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The Mirandés board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Arsen Zakharyan 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Esteban Pourcher has just signed for Mirandés, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Nikola Maraš
“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.
Match5 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Albacete, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Esteban Pourcher and Mirandés agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.