“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Once Caldas can pretend not to have heard.
Luis Palacios 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.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Leones were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Marked 7.89. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Juan Murillo, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Luis Vásquez
$21.0K on the table at Tigres. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Howell Mena signs something — a contract at Barranquilla or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 The request is on a desk at Once Caldas, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Once Caldas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: River Plate keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Luis Palacios 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 chase for César Bravo ended with $100.0K changing hands and Barranquilla out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
$310.0K was the most the club would pay and Barranquilla were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Javier Ortíz has just signed for Once Caldas, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Barranquilla people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about César Bravo again, and this time the name on the line is Sportivo Italiano. Barranquilla are listening politely and promising nothing.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Barranquilla would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Isaza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Castillo 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.
Santiago Pereira 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 dugout9 Oct 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Howell Mena'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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jhoynner Lozano is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Castillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Barranquilla game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Atletico Bucaramanga runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Roberto Fernández 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.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Llaneros in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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 Atletico Bucaramanga that is a harder question to answer.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
7.82, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Manuel Palacios could afford to be generous.
Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Rodriguez 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.
Carlos Durán 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.
“I watch every Barranquilla game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Atletico Bucaramanga runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Barranquilla. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The offer from Independiente Medellin for Cristian Santander 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tigres waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Deadline passes with 9 signed and 18 gone
That is the business done at Barranquilla until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Barranquilla will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Miguel González has, at Barranquilla, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and José Luis Caicedo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Union Magdalena pay $190.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Barranquilla asked and La Equidad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Once Caldas can pretend not to have heard.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $174.0K — a club that wants Nicolás Pisciotti enough to be asked twice.
$160.0K on the table at Valledupar. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Once Caldas can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Once Caldas asked and Barranquilla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Deportivo Pasto left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Juan Murillo left the room before anybody could ask which.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Barranquilla have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Once Caldas have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ebaldo Pérez. The answer from Barranquilla has not changed — yet.
The fee is $110.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Universitario Popayan drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Luis Caicedo 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Envigado have kept their man, and Barranquilla go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Cristian Peñate 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 offer from Deportes Tolima for Mateo Zuleta 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Once Caldas have lost him in all but the paperwork.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Once Caldas can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Once Caldas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
$180.0K on the table at Union Magdalena. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Once Caldas have gone to Barranquilla with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The offer from Deportivo Cali for Joel Canchimbo 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.
“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Barranquilla, and 0 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
Omar Cassiani 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.
A loan enquiry to Alianza Petrolera: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Barranquilla know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Peñate 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Barranquilla, and 0 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
“I watch every Barranquilla game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Envigado runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Yesid García on the training pitch
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Envigado they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Juan Quintero wants continental football; whether Envigado can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Envigado training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matko Miljevic 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.
Jose Romero 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bleiner Agrón trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cristian Peñate 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.
“I watch every Barranquilla game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Envigado runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Iván Balanta 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Envigado 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 Andrés Tovar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.