David Barbosa

Striker - Union Magdalena
14 Nov 2027
Sunday
Process
67 Edition

The Tigres Post

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Jorge Rodriguez has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Tigres can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Market

Sebastián Valbuena asks to leave Tigres

“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.

Squad

Franco Sassone 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.

Squad

Stiven Palomeque 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 Tigres, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Boardroom

Tigres answer back

A squad written off a fortnight ago has closed ranks. Whatever was said behind that door, it has held so far.

Squad

The manager comes out for Jorge Rivaldo

Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Jorge Rivaldo has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.

In brief

Back issues
64 Edition

The Union Magdalena Herald

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Union Magdalena are in real trouble now

Position 12, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

José Mercado asks to leave Union Magdalena

“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.

Loan watch

Juan Sebastián Toncel wants to come home

“I did not go to Santa Fe to sit and watch. I want to come back to Union Magdalena and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 43 matches say the rest.

Squad

Abel Argañaraz 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.

Squad

Luis Becerra 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.

Market

Still no signature from Dilan Ortiz

2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Union Magdalena could get for him.

In brief

53 Edition

The Tigres Post

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Tigres boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jesús Cano

“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.

Squad

Stiven Palomeque 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 Tigres, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

The armband comes off Ricardo Rosales

Tigres will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.

Loan watch

6 goals on loan for Santiago Rátiva

18 appearances at Santa Fe and the goals keep coming. Tigres are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Squad

Jeisson Castro takes the armband

It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.

In brief

53 Edition

The Union Magdalena Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Union Magdalena give the job to Gustavo Cuadrado

The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.

Market

Daniel Mera 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 Union Magdalena can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Jhoan Pinto is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Union Magdalena is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Loan watch

Humberto Acevedo wants to come home

“I did not go to Fortaleza CEIF to sit and watch. I want to come back to Union Magdalena and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 32 matches say the rest.

Squad

Juan Diego Giraldo 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 Union Magdalena, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

Somebody is after Andrés Carreño’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Andrés Carreño suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Union Magdalena have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

In brief

52 Edition

The Tigres Post

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Tigres sink to position 11

22 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Juan Felipe Hincapié says Tigres went back on their word

“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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jorge Rivaldo

“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.

Market

Union Magdalena expected to open talks for David Barbosa

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Tigres will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Boardroom

The numbers do not look good at Tigres

Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.

Squad

Franco Sassone 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 Tigres, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief