Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason União de Santarém will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Lucas Taylor 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.
João Costa 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.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid União de Santarém $31.0K. Danny left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. União de Santarém will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at União de Santarém this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Lucas Taylor 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.
8 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at União de Santarém, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. União de Santarém will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Taylor 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 bill for the sacking has arrived. Interim Coach leaves with $41.4K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
“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 União de Santarém, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Santa Clara, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
José Melro 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.
União de Santarém asked and Maritimo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
União de Santarém offered $14.0K; Paredes said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Taylor 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 38 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at União de Santarém has to find a result from somewhere.
“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 União de Santarém, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Taylor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
João Costa 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at União de Santarém can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutVasco Gomes knocks on the manager’s door
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
$2.5M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
He is going to Alverca, the club has $2.5M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
União de Santarém had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Farense, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The clubs have shaken hands with Fafe; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what União de Santarém can pretend not to have heard.
$14.0K on the table at Paredes. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.