Marked for Facundo Lima
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Nov 2029
Albion sink to position 16
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market26 Nov 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Nov 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Albion is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout26 Nov 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad26 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Joaquín Bogarín 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 dugout26 Nov 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Quinteros trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market26 Nov 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Agustín Granja may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market26 Nov 2029
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Facundo Lima leaves Albion the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Nov 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Ginella will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Albion the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market12 Nov 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Words exchanged at Albion
Hernán Toledo 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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Joaquín Bogarín 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.
Market12 Nov 2029
Albion have made Federico Viera available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
Ezequiel Berriel 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.
Market12 Nov 2029
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Albion money.
Squad12 Nov 2029
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Francisco Ginella’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Luis Martinez has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Albion can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Nov 2029
“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.
Market5 Nov 2029
Facundo Lima has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Nov 2029
A falling-out at Albion
Hernán Toledo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Joaquín Bogarín 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
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.
Market5 Nov 2029
The clock does Francisco Ginella’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Albion could ask drops and the wages Francisco Ginella can ask rise.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Sebastian Mendez was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad5 Nov 2029
A strip of cloth that decides nothing on the pitch and tells the dressing room whose opinion counts. The manager has made a statement without making one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Albion is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market15 Oct 2029
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words exchanged at Albion
Hernán Toledo 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 Oct 2029
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshef Zea 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 Oct 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Máximo Machado and Albion agree another 3 years.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
Federico Viera 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Albion says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
Market15 Oct 2029
Albion have made Federico Viera available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market15 Oct 2029
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Albion could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Oct 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Luis Martinez has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Oct 2029
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Oct 2029
Only the photograph left for Facundo Lima
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Lima will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Albion the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lucas Rodríguez and Albion agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Oct 2029
A falling-out at Albion
Hernán Toledo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Joshef Zea 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 dugout8 Oct 2029
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Juan Augusto Pussetto is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market8 Oct 2029
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Albion could get for him.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Quinteros trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 Sep 2029
The mood at Albion 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.
Boardroom24 Sep 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Albion
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Albion is running low.
Market24 Sep 2029
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Sep 2029
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Federico Viera
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Albion will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Albion
Hernán Toledo 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.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshef Zea 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 dugout24 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezequiel Berriel, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
Facundo Lima 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 Facundo Lima trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Sep 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Joaquín Bogarín may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Albion is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words exchanged at Albion
Hernán Toledo 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshef Zea 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
7 new faces, and Albion 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Leonardo Rodriguez and Albion agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Sep 2029
Facundo Lima has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Albion
Hernán Toledo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Federico Viera
“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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Bogarín 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.
Market10 Sep 2029
The clock does Francisco Ginella’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Albion could ask drops and the wages Francisco Ginella can ask rise.
Market10 Sep 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A season on the outside for David Ochieng
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Albion has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Aug 2029
The wait goes on for Albion
17 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.
Market20 Aug 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Aug 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom20 Aug 2029
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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words exchanged at Albion
Hernán Toledo 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Bogarín 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 dugout20 Aug 2029
The team sheet said everything about Federico Viera
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Federico Viera.
Squad20 Aug 2029
8 new faces, and Albion 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Derlis Gomez and Albion agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Aug 2029
No end in sight to Albion's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Albion has to find a result from somewhere.
Market13 Aug 2029
“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.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Hernán Toledo, 33, rolls back the years — 7.92
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market13 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Albion is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Aug 2029
A falling-out at Albion
Hernán Toledo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Derlis Gomez gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Derlis Gomez has just signed for Albion, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom13 Aug 2029
Uruguay Montevideo will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ramiro Paludi has pre-agreed a move to Albion, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Joshef Zea 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.
Match11 Aug 2029
A bad afternoon for Albion against Juventud
1‑2 to Juventud, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Jun 2029
$1.3M from Nacional for Santiago Silva. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
Match23 Jun 2029
9 matches without a win for Albion
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Albion are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market25 Jun 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces25 Jun 2029
Albion sell a favourite for $1.3M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Santiago Silva was one of the reasons people came, and $1.3M does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Everything agreed with Rentistas, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom25 Jun 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Francisco Ginella 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.
Match23 Jun 2029
The goals have deserted Albion
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Albion can tell you which week it ends in.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
Market30 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Carlos Airala
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Airala will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Albion the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Albion
Hernán Toledo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match28 Apr 2029
A bad afternoon for Albion against Juventud
0‑1 to Juventud, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Apr 2029
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Airala was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Albion told Federico Puente something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Albion
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Albion is running low.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Albion
Santiago Silva 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.
Market22 Jan 2029
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Juan Bado gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Juan Bado has just signed for Albion, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Toledo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Too much change too quickly at Albion
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.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
Santiago Silva 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 Santiago Silva trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Plaza Colonia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Albion is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market1 Jan 2029
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
Everything agreed with Jaguares, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Joan Hernández gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Joan Hernández has just signed for Albion, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Albion
Santiago Silva 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Hernán Toledo 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.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
A promise honoured at Albion
Something was said to Agustín Pereira and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market1 Jan 2029
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Dec 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Albion have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market11 Dec 2028
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Albion
Santiago Silva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Toledo 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.
Transfer targets11 Dec 2028
Albion asked and Racing Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Brian Quinteros
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
Santiago Costa 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 Santiago Costa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
Rodrigo Silva has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Albion can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Dec 2028
“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.
Transfer targets4 Dec 2028
The deal with Racing is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Albion
Hernán Toledo 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Santiago Costa 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.
Market4 Dec 2028
“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.
Transfer targets4 Dec 2028
A loan move for Jordan Ferrín is in the works
Albion have made the call to Millonarios. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
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.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
The manager's exit leaves Facundo Lima exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Facundo Lima is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Open for business: Albion enter the window
-
Squad
A wage question at Albion
-
The dugout
Lucas Martínez asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Albion
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Albion is running low.
Market27 Nov 2028
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad27 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Albion
Santiago Silva 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 Nov 2028
Hernán Toledo 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.
Market27 Nov 2028
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francisco Ginella trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Hernán Toledo has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Albion that is a harder question to answer.
Squad27 Nov 2028
A new face in his position, and Tomás Moschion suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Albion have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.