Marked for Joan Hernández
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Sep 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 Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Sep 2029
Facundo Lima has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Albion
Hernán Toledo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Federico Viera
“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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Bogarín 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.
Market10 Sep 2029
The clock does Francisco Ginella’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Albion could ask drops and the wages Francisco Ginella can ask rise.
Market10 Sep 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A season on the outside for David Ochieng
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Albion has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 May 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market14 May 2029
Pedro Ramallo 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 Albion can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout14 May 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Albion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 May 2029
Tempers go at Albion
Santiago Silva 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Hernán Toledo 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.
Squad14 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Agustín Granja and Albion agree another 3 years.
Match12 May 2029
Albion rescue it on 92 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Penarol had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match12 May 2029
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout14 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Joaquín Bogarín
“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
Uneasy
Squad16 Apr 2029
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Albion lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market16 Apr 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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Albion
Santiago Silva 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 Apr 2029
Hernán Toledo 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
25 shut-outs in 167 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Joan Hernández
“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 dugout16 Apr 2029
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.” Luis Martinez chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match14 Apr 2029
Point won or two lost for Albion?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Cerro Largo? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Albion people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
Rodrigo Silva has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Albion can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Jan 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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
Crisis meeting at Albion
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market8 Jan 2029
Carlos Airala has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Albion
Santiago Silva and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Toledo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
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.
Market8 Jan 2029
Tomos Gibbs is 20, and Albion have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Plaza Colonia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Albion is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market1 Jan 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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
Everything agreed with Jaguares, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Joan Hernández gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Joan Hernández has just signed for Albion, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Albion
Santiago Silva 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Hernán Toledo 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.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
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.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
A promise honoured at Albion
Something was said to Agustín Pereira and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market1 Jan 2029
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.