0‑3 against Real Avilés, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta Fortuna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
An average of 7.05 in a first team he is several years too young for. Celta Fortuna have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Celta Fortuna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Meixús 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marcos González has his answer from Celta Fortuna; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The offer from Albacete for Ángel Arcos 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.
Unai Núñez 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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Celta Fortuna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Celta Fortuna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer from Athletic Bilbao for Iván Villar 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.
Ángel Arcos 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Pablo Meixús 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kike Ribes has his answer from Celta Fortuna; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hugo Burcio signs something — a contract at Celta Fortuna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Celta Fortuna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer from Getafe for Ángel Arcos 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.
Ángel Arcos 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hugo Burcio signs something — a contract at Celta Fortuna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutJoel López asks for a word with the manager
Ángel Arcos 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 May 2027
Pablo Meixús 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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Nobody left the Celta Fortuna dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Carlos Dotor has written the date down.
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 Celta Fortuna that is a harder question to answer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hugo Burcio signs something — a contract at Celta Fortuna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Position 16 on 36 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Match15 May 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Celta Fortuna and Mérida in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta Fortuna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Pablo Meixús 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.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Nobody left the Celta Fortuna dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marcos González has his answer from Celta Fortuna; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
SquadA Celta Fortuna teenager takes the young player award
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Celta Fortuna can pretend not to have heard.
Ángel Arcos 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 Jan 2027
Coke Carrillo has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Roberto Caballero after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Pablo Meixús'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.
Ángel Arcos 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Celta Fortuna, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Celta Fortuna have no good answer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta Fortuna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Meixús was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Roberto Caballero chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Coke Carrillo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Celta Fortuna needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Coke Carrillo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hugo González and Celta Fortuna agree another 4 years.
Pablo Gavián 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.
The phone has started ringing about Anxo Rodríguez again, and this time the name on the line is Getafe. Celta Fortuna are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Celta Fortuna, and both men came out saying it was fine.