Marked for Simón Guajardo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Mar 2029
0‑3 against Gimnasia y Esgrima, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market26 Mar 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 The request is on a desk at Central Norte, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 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 Central Norte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maximiliano Ribero, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market26 Mar 2029
The name of Franco Vedoya keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Central Norte say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ramiro Enríquez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Central Norte is running low.
Market5 Mar 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 The request is on a desk at Central Norte, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Simón Guajardo: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Central Norte have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Mar 2029
34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Franco Vedoya commits to Central Norte for another 4 years.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Maximiliano Ribero 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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
$167.9K of the owner's money at Central Norte
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Feb 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 Central Norte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match24 Feb 2029
0‑1 to San Telmo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ezequiel Quiroga, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Doidinho wants to go home
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Central Norte know it.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
The one thing Mateo Fofre could not do
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Market26 Feb 2029
The name of Franco Vedoya keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Central Norte say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Pavel Fretes 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 Pavel Fretes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 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 Central Norte can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Feb 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 Central Norte this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Feb 2029
117 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
122% of the income goes out in wages at Central Norte
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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Central Norte know it.
Match17 Feb 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simón Guajardo, and the manager let it.
Market19 Feb 2029
The Enzo Vázquez story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Enzo Vázquez signs something — a contract at Central Norte or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Jan 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Simón Guajardo commits to Central Norte for another 3 years.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Pavel Fretes 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.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Ezequiel Quiroga 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
The numbers do not look good at Llaneros
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.
Squad18 Sep 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 Llaneros, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” John Olav Norheim and IK Start agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Steve Mvoué 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Jesper Cornelius 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Alexandr Zhirov 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
142% of the income goes out in wages at Chelyabinsk
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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilja Tuseev, and the manager let it.
Match4 Sep 2027
Spartak Kostroma left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Alexandr Zhirov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
“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 Zenit Penza, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit Penza is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match7 Aug 2027
Whatever happens, Zenit Penza do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad9 Aug 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 Zenit Penza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Azizbek Odilov commits to Zenit Penza for another 3 years.
Squad9 Aug 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.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
92% of the income goes out in wages at Zenit Penza
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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.39 on the card, and the Zenit Penza support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Jul 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Zenit Penza did not have in the autumn.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Walisson Nem 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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Orel made Zenit Penza work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Azizbek Odilov and Zenit Penza agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Zenit Penza now.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Aug 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Jeremías Suarez wants a proper job in this side
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Jeremías Suarez has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Zenit Penza know, and have known for weeks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Simón Guajardo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit Penza they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Walisson Nem 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 Zenit Penza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Artem Kulakov and Zenit Penza agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
He is 18, and nobody at Zenit Penza signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitry Korolev and Zenit Penza agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market5 Jul 2027
Stepan Degtev has left for Tyumen in a $6.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Evgeny Yegorov 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Zenit Penza now.
Market5 Jul 2027
Zenit Penza have made Dawid Fornalik available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Daniil Cherkasov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Simón Guajardo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit Penza they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Zenit Penza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages eat 93% of everything Zenit Penza earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market14 Jun 2027
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market14 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jeremías Suarez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zenit Penza know it.
Squad24 May 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 Zenit Penza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 May 2027
“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 Zenit Penza, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit Penza is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 May 2027
Sergey Alexeev 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages eat 103% of everything Zenit Penza earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad17 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniil Cherkasov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market17 May 2027
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Zenit Penza money.