Marked for Adriel da Silva
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Feb 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Augusto
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Augusto will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotivi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Da Silva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Lokomotivi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lasha Ozbetelashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Lokomotivi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lasha Ozbetelashvili, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
It is arithmetic now, and the arithmetic is done. A summer of hard questions starts early at Lokomotivi, and next season's fixture list reads very differently.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market6 Dec 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sandro Shashiashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotivi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Maximiliano Badur 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Lokomotivi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zurab Chavchanidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zurab Chavchanidze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market6 Dec 2027
“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 dugout6 Dec 2027
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
Crisis
Market18 Oct 2027
Erick Daniel 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 Lokomotivi can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Maximiliano Badur and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Zurab Chavchanidze 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
“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.
Market18 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokomotivi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Sep 2027
Erick Daniel 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 Lokomotivi can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Zurab Chavchanidze 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Lokomotivi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Akhaladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Lokomotivi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout20 Sep 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Zurab Chavchanidze may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market20 Sep 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokomotivi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Lokomotivi would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Sep 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sandro Shashiashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotivi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market13 Sep 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
So close: Da Silva’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Dinamo Batumi moved on, Da Silva reports back to Lokomotivi, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Maximiliano Badur 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Adriel da Silva arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Adriel da Silva has, at Lokomotivi, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Lokomotivi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zurab Chavchanidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter de Limeira have kept their man, and Lokomotivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
No hiding place for Augusto
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Augusto, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Vladislavs Lazarevs, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Oriental may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Jun 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 Oriental can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Jun 2027
Still nobody has beaten Oriental
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Oriental asked and Penarol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 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 Oriental this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Jun 2027
Three points for Oriental, 2‑1 the final word against Basanez in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market14 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Oriental have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezequiel Navarro Montoya, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Oriental
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángelo Gabrielli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Oriental
Emiliano Bermúdez 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Oriental training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Manuel Villalba 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Chocobar, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ignacio Tinelli'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.
Market29 Mar 2027
Adriel da Silva is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Oriental has been clear about where Adriel da Silva stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Next up at home: Rentistas, who go into it in position 8. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Juan Manuel Villalba plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Oriental have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Market28 Dec 2026
The bid was some way short and Oriental did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Oriental
Gabriel Chocobar 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Oriental training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Kozlovsky 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 targets28 Dec 2026
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.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
A loan move for Tobías Rubio is in the works
Oriental have made the call to Racing Club. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets28 Dec 2026
Oriental have made the call to Tigre. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Oriental are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nicolás Kozlovsky 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 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Oriental
Enzo Vlaeminch and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
106% of the income goes out in wages at Oriental
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market5 Oct 2026
Oriental have made Adriel da Silva available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.