Day 13 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alvin Ayman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chapecoense this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chapecoense will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 The request is on a desk at Chapecoense, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Boavista for Facundo Sanguinetti 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 Penedense waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Chapecoense is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yeison Castillo is living that version at Chapecoense, and it tends to show in the first month.
Add another name to the list: Iguatu have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Diego Fonseca. The answer from Chapecoense has not changed — yet.
In brief
BoardroomWages swallow 97% of the Chapecoense income
Transfer targetsA loan move for Metinho is in the works
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paysandu will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The deal with Flamengo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Matheus Soares and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Words at Paysandu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Melo 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Paysandu people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Paysandu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vini Oliveira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Matheus Soares 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.
Squad14 May 2035
Caio Braga 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Paysandu has been clear about where Matheus Emiliano stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Paysandu, another week without a signature from Kauã Alves.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Paysandu have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paysandu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Caio Braga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Paysandu lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Eduardo Melo 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.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Caio Braga 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.
“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 Paysandu know it.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. João Paulo was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Paysandu told Yeison Castillo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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 Paysandu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Eduardo Melo 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.
Paysandu asked and América Mineiro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luis Felipe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Vasilis Kitsakis is on it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Paysandu will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“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 Paysandu, and it is not being withdrawn.
Eduardo Melo 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.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Words at Paysandu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Caio Braga 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Guilherme’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Paysandu needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vini Oliveira signs something — a contract at Paysandu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Vasilis Kitsakis is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paysandu will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Paysandu they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paysandu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Caio Braga 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.
28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout6 Nov 2034
the manager faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” the manager after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leandro Matos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paysandu the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Eduardo Melo 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.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Words at Paysandu training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Caio Braga 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.
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Paysandu will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Eduardo Melo 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.
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.
The dugout23 Oct 2034
Half-satisfied: the manager on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Paysandu lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Matheus Soares 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luiz Peixoto is living that version at Paysandu, and it tends to show in the first month.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eduardo Melo signs something — a contract at Paysandu or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Edmilson is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Paysandu will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marcelo Bourscheidt will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Paysandu the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Paysandu this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Tombense were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Caio Braga 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.