Marked for Joel Erlinch
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Jul 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 The request is on a desk at Diosgyor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yohan Croizet-Kollár and Diosgyor agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Marco Lund 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 Diosgyor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Feb 2029
Márk Tamás 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 Diosgyor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lirim Kastrati and Diosgyor agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Marco Lund 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 Diosgyor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Kamran Guseynov
“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.
Market12 Feb 2029
The Gábor Jurek story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gábor Jurek signs something — a contract at Diosgyor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Joel Erlinch has seen what the next man earns
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 Diosgyor that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Jan 2029
David Díaz 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 Diosgyor can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Marco Lund 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 Jan 2029
Dmitry Sasin gets it from the manager
“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.
Market8 Jan 2029
The Marco Lund story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marco Lund signs something — a contract at Diosgyor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Máté Sajbán knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Diosgyor, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Diosgyor would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Dec 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market25 Dec 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.
Squad25 Dec 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
Wages eat 107% of everything Racing 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.
Squad25 Dec 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 Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
Pressure builds in the Racing boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market18 Dec 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Dec 2028
Lautaro Ávila has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Valentín Dutruel: 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.” Racing have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Dec 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
Racing cannot sign anybody
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.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
Racing are $22.3M in the red
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.
Market18 Dec 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Racing will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market18 Dec 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Lautaro Ávila may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
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.
Market4 Dec 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ricardo Centurión and Racing agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Ricardo Centurión 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market4 Dec 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Racing have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The owner puts $360.4K into Racing
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Market4 Dec 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Axel Oyola’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Lucas Flores knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market27 Nov 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Sergio González 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Alfie James, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
124% of the income goes out in wages at Racing
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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Lucas Flores 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
Market13 Nov 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Nov 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Ciro Rivas 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.
Market13 Nov 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Raúl Chamorro may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“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 Racing will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market13 Nov 2028
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Racing money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Racing
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market23 Oct 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Lautaro Ávila
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lautaro Ávila will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Ricardo Centurión 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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Racing cannot sign anybody
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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Racing are $22.3M in the red
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Oct 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Santiago Rinaudo 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 Oct 2028
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Lucas Flores 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 Lucas Flores trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A wage question at Racing
Sergio González has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Market16 Oct 2028
Racing have made Lautaro Ávila available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Sep 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Racing's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Racing has to find a result from somewhere.
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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Nobody could get near Axel Oyola
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match16 Sep 2028
Los Andes left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joel Erlinch, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ignacio Valsangiácomo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
A mark of 5.54 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Axel Oyola runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market21 Aug 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Ricardo Centurión 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.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
A defender's afternoon for Emanuel Díaz
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Joel Erlinch gets it from the manager
“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.
Match19 Aug 2028
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Alvarado will be the happier side with the point.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Lucas Flores 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 Lucas Flores trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market21 Aug 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Lautaro Ávila may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jul 2028
Racing are in real trouble now
Position 16, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Racing
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market3 Jul 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.
Market3 Jul 2028
Facundo Juárez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market3 Jul 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Joel Erlinch reports back to Racing with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match1 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Racing's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Racing has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Sergio González 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
$206.3K of the owner's money at Racing
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 ratings3 Jul 2028
Axel Oyola runs at them all day
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
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The numbers do not look good at Racing
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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Leonel Monti
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonel Monti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jun 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A defender's afternoon for Alan Olinick
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match17 Jun 2028
6 unbeaten for Racing
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Racing did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A defender's afternoon for Emanuel Díaz
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market19 Jun 2028
Mitre are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Racing will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Apr 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Apr 2028
Gaspar Iñíguez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Ricardo Centurión 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.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.83 on the card, and the Racing support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Joel Erlinch gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Sergio González. Racing will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 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.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Mar 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
The numbers do not look good at Racing
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.
Match25 Mar 2028
All Boys left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Juárez, and the manager let it.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Marked 5.79, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Joel Erlinch 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 Joel Erlinch trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market27 Mar 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Raúl Chamorro may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Defensive actions: 31, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Mar 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 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.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match11 Mar 2028
A 1‑0 win over San Miguel, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ignacio Valsangiácomo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Mar 2028
9 matches without a win for Racing
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Racing are no longer polite ones.
Market6 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Mar 2028
Facundo Juárez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sergio González and Racing agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Ricardo Centurión 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.
Match4 Mar 2028
Deportivo Riestra left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Matías Sánchez
“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.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
A mark of 5.54 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Feb 2028
8 matches without a win for Racing
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Racing are no longer polite ones.
Market28 Feb 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
A defender's afternoon for Alan Olinick
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Sergio González 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.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Racing
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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Joel Erlinch gets it from the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Feb 2028
The wait goes on for Racing
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market14 Feb 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Leonel Monti
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonel Monti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Feb 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
A performance of 8.69 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market14 Feb 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Racing will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Brian Olivera lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. 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
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Jan 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Jan 2028
The name of Joel Erlinch has come up in conversations Racing were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Wages eat 170% of everything Racing 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Matías Machado 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 Matías Machado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market24 Jan 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ignacio Valsangiácomo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Racing
Sergio González 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
Racing have made Matías Machado available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Benjamín Rosales trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Gaspar Iñíguez has seen what the next man earns
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 Racing that is a harder question to answer.
Market17 Jan 2028
The Joel Erlinch story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Joel Erlinch signs something — a contract at Racing or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Racing have had the benefit of it.
Market20 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Ricardo Centurión 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Dec 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 Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Tomás Kummer 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Racing counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Racing now.
Squad6 Dec 2027
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market6 Dec 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Brian Olivera has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Racing.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Alan Olinick knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing, and both men came out saying it was fine.