“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 The request is on a desk at Sporting CP B, and it is not being withdrawn.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Souleymane Faye and Sporting CP B agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Add another name to the list: Felgueiras have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Diogo Clara. The answer from Sporting CP B has not changed — yet.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Moncef Zekri 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mateo Tanlongo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Mateo Tanlongo 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bruno Ramos, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moncef Zekri 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodrigo Rodrigues and Sporting CP B agree another 4 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sporting CP B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sporting CP B have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Paulo Cardoso is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Sporting CP B can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting CP B 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 Diego Callai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Sporting CP B, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sporting CP B have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rayhan Momade will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sporting CP B the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mateo Tanlongo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Diego Callai 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.
“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 Sporting CP B, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Callai was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Callai trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moncef Zekri signs something — a contract at Sporting CP B or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting CP B is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mateo Tanlongo 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 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 Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sporting CP B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
5 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.
Mateo Tanlongo 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sporting CP B are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Rodrigo Dias 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Pedro Barbosa after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Paulo Cardoso 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.
At 18 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Dias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bento Estrela and Sporting CP B agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A mark of 7.56, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
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.” Pedro Barbosa chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sporting CP B, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The offer from Omonoia for Moncef Zekri 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Rodrigo Dias 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moncef Zekri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Rafael Besugo’s negotiating for him
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Paulo Cardoso is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Paulo Cardoso and Sporting CP B agree another 4 years.
Paulo Cardoso 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Francisco Silva has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Muniz 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.
Rodrigo Dias 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Lucas Anjos
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Lucas Anjos has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sporting CP B have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Lucas Taibo has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Pedro Barbosa was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Sporting CP B dressing room was either.
Nobody at Sporting CP B is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sporting CP B have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting CP B this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 18-year-old it feels ownership of. Duarte Correia has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 1‑0 win over Maritimo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Lucas Anjos was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Moncef Zekri 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Pedro Barbosa kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Dias has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Rodrigo Dias 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Bruno Ramos has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
21 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Moncef Zekri 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.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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.” Pedro Barbosa chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The offer from Semen Padang for Mateo Tanlongo 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 phone has started ringing about David Moreira again, and this time the name on the line is Chaves. Sporting CP B are listening politely and promising nothing.
Académico de Viseu left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Pedro Barbosa to a room that had heard them before.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Sporting CP B training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moncef Zekri 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.