Marked for Ian Garguez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Esteban Paredes damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Ian Garguez 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 Palestino can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Dec 2026
Palestino say no — this time
The offer from Huachipato for Ian Garguez 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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santiago Wanderers have kept their man, and Palestino go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marcos Delgado commits to Palestino for another 1 years.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
The offer went to Union La Calera 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Joao Moris is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Palestino have gone to Cobresal 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Add another name to the list: O'Higgins have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about César Munder. The answer from Palestino has not changed — yet.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Anger at Palestino 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Palestino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Benítez 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.
Squad30 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 Palestino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Simon Panguilef, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joaquín Aros commits to Palestino for another 3 years.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jason León, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Palestino 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.
Market2 Nov 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Ian Garguez 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Palestino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro Cardozo 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Palestino
Martín Araya 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
“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 Palestino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Palestino
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jonathan Benítez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ronnie Fernández 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Palestino 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of César Munder
“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 dugout26 Oct 2026
Ian Garguez knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Palestino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Palestino's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Palestino has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Palestino
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Jonathan Benítez 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 dugout14 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
A point taken on 97 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match12 Sep 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Palestino, and it is a cruel one.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Ronnie Fernández'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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Palestino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Benítez 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.
Squad7 Sep 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 Palestino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Ian Garguez 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Enzo Roco stands down from international duty
“33 caps is more than I ever expected, and it is time somebody else had them.” At 34 he is finished with his country and nowhere near finished with Palestino.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Marcelo Eggel has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Palestino 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ian Garguez moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Palestino than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joao Moris, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Jonathan Benítez’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Palestino needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market7 Sep 2026
Palestino have made Esteban Paredes available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
César Munder 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 Palestino can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Palestino
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Palestino are no longer polite ones.
Match29 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Palestino and Cobresal, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market31 Aug 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ronnie Fernández 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Palestino are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
-
The dugout
Antonio Ceza gets it from the manager
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Squad
Too much change too quickly at Palestino
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2026
Palestino bow out of the cup
Universidad de Concepcion go through and Palestino go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market24 Aug 2026
Empoli come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Palestino did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Palestino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jonathan Benítez 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Palestino
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Palestino
Ronnie Fernández 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joe Abrigo, and the manager let it.