Marked for Omar Robles
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Nov 2035
Words exchanged at Leixões
Leonardo Lopes 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.
Squad26 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Leixões
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Duarte Tomás was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Nov 2035
0‑2 to Oliveirense, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Nov 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonardo Lopes, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Nov 2035
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Nov 2035
Omar Robles asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout26 Nov 2035
Kelvin Mamozo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leixões 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.
Player ratings26 Nov 2035
A mark of 5.75 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market26 Nov 2035
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Leixões could get for him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Nov 2035
Omar Robles 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 Leixões can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Nov 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leixões is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom19 Nov 2035
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Brad Gomes has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Leonardo Lopes 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 Nov 2035
Words at Leixões training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bryan 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 dugout19 Nov 2035
Leo Boström 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 dugout19 Nov 2035
A promise honoured at Leixões
Something was said to Kelvin Mamozo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Omar Robles 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 Leixões, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Gabriel Tavares has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leixões will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Oct 2035
“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.
Market22 Oct 2035
Only the photograph left for Gonçalo Sousa
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gonçalo Sousa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leixões the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match20 Oct 2035
No end in sight to Leixões's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leixões has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Oct 2035
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Leo Boström, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Leonardo Lopes 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 Oct 2035
Victor Lebas 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.
Match20 Oct 2035
Braga left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Oct 2035
“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.
Squad22 Oct 2035
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Oct 2035
Victor Lebas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leixões they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market15 Oct 2035
“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 Leixões, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Oct 2035
“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 Leixões know it.
Squad15 Oct 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leixões this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom15 Oct 2035
Feirense will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Fernando Molina has pre-agreed a move to Leixões, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Words at Leixões training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Lebas 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.
Loan watch15 Oct 2035
“I did not go to Sanjoanense to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leixões and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Market15 Oct 2035
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Charlie Parks has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leixões.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
“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
Steady
Market10 Sep 2035
“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.
Market10 Sep 2035
Only the photograph left for Diego González
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego González will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leixões the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom10 Sep 2035
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Diego González has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad10 Sep 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leixões this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gil Vicente have kept their man, and Leixões go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Victor Lebas 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.
Market10 Sep 2035
“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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
“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 Leixões know it.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alex Meersman, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Aug 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market20 Aug 2035
“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.
Market20 Aug 2035
Victor Lebas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leixões they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2035
Leixões offered $5.4M; Vitoria Guimaraes 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.
Player ratings20 Aug 2035
Tidjany Touré, 33, rolls back the years — 8.30
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.30 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match18 Aug 2035
No end in sight to Leixões's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leixões has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad20 Aug 2035
“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 Leixões know it.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2035
Leixões have gone to Gil Vicente 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.
Squad20 Aug 2035
A falling-out at Leixões
Leonardo Lopes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Aug 2035
1‑4 to Benfica, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market13 Aug 2035
“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 Leixões, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout13 Aug 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leixões may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2035
The offer went to Vitoria Guimaraes 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.
Match11 Aug 2035
No end in sight to Leixões's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leixões has to find a result from somewhere.
Market13 Aug 2035
Leixões say no — this time
The offer from Arab Contractors for Mahmoud El Shenawy 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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
“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; Leixões are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad13 Aug 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leixões this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom13 Aug 2035
Graduation day at Leixões
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 May 2035
Victor Lebas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leixões they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom28 May 2035
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad28 May 2035
A falling-out at Leixões
Leonardo Lopes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 May 2035
Words at Leixões training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Lebas 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.
Market28 May 2035
Omar Robles told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Omar Robles has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Leixões.
The dugout28 May 2035
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.
The dugout28 May 2035
“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 dugout28 May 2035
Richard Garcia knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Richard Garcia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 May 2035
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 May 2035
“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 dugout21 May 2035
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad21 May 2035
A muscle injury sidelines Afonso Valente for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Leixões will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad21 May 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leixões this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2035
A row about effort at Leixões
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Victor Lebas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 May 2035
Diego González 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 Leixões, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout21 May 2035
“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 dugout21 May 2035
Kelvin Mamozo gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kelvin Mamozo is on it.
Market21 May 2035
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 May 2035
“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 Leixões, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 May 2035
“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 Leixões know it.
Squad7 May 2035
Words exchanged at Leixões
Leonardo Lopes 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.
Squad7 May 2035
Words at Leixões training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Lebas 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.
Market7 May 2035
Talks stall between Leixões and Bryan
“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.
The dugout7 May 2035
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Leixões told Piero Magallanes something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout7 May 2035
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Afonso Valente is on it.
The dugout7 May 2035
The manager makes an example of Loris Osmani
“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 dugout7 May 2035
Ladislav Krobot 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
Uneasy
The dugout2 Apr 2035
Diego González: 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.” Leixões have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market2 Apr 2035
Afonso Valente has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leixões they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Apr 2035
A falling-out at Leixões
Leonardo Lopes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Apr 2035
A row about effort at Leixões
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Victor Lebas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market2 Apr 2035
One of our own: Simao Lopes joins the Leixões first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Simao Lopes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market2 Apr 2035
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Goncalo Gomes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market2 Apr 2035
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marco Oliveira has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout2 Apr 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Robles, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Apr 2035
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Mar 2035
Beaten 0‑3 by Porto, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market12 Mar 2035
“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.
Match10 Mar 2035
8 matches without a win for Leixões
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Leixões are no longer polite ones.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Leixões may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Mar 2035
Tidjany Touré was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Mar 2035
“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; Leixões are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Mar 2035
A row about effort at Leixões
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Victor Lebas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Mar 2035
Leixões leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Duarte Tomás, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Feb 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leixões is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match25 Feb 2035
No end in sight to Leixões's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Leixões has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Feb 2035
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.
Squad26 Feb 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Leixões this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Words at Leixões training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Victor Lebas 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.
Match25 Feb 2035
0‑2 to Sporting CP, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
The manager makes an example of Omar Robles
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2035
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.