Marked for Iván Campos
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Terms done: José Bello is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Titanes Guanare waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Barquisimeto is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Barquisimeto may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 27 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Match26 Jun 2027
Trujillanos left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Anzola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Iván Campos in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barquisimeto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Jean Lossada
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
The match ball belongs to Carlos Gil, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match12 Jun 2027
6‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“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.
Match12 Jun 2027
11 matches without a win, and then this, against Academia Puerto Cabello B. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Market14 Jun 2027
Iván Campos 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 Barquisimeto can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Barquisimeto — 7.99
1 for Luis Montero, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Barquisimeto have done the hard part with Monagas, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Carlos Gil was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.95. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Barquisimeto may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Joel Infante commits to Barquisimeto for another 2 years.
Match6 Mar 2027
Trujillanos left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Aaron Rodríguez 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Yonaiker Martínez 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 Mar 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.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Diego Landaeta named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Diego Landaeta is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 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 Barquisimeto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Jesús Parra
“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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fernando Arango after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Jean Lossada 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Market15 Feb 2027
The shop window has Iván Campos in it
Barquisimeto have let the market know Iván Campos can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad15 Feb 2027
At 23 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Barquisimeto are won quietly and lost loudly.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Barquisimeto will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.