Marked for Maxime Lengué-Lenou
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Nov 2035
A fracture rules Alberto Reina out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Oviedo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Nov 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxime Lengué-Lenou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Oviedo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Nov 2035
A falling-out at Oviedo
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Nov 2035
Strahinja Ivic arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Strahinja Ivic has, at Oviedo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad5 Nov 2035
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Arnay 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.
Match30 Oct 2035
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 Nov 2035
Celso Duarte 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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2035
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Boardroom5 Nov 2035
Nobody arrives at Oviedo until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Oviedo this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Oct 2035
46 days out for Alberto Reina after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Oviedo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Oct 2035
Only the photograph left for Luka Méndez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Méndez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Oviedo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Oct 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oviedo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Rodrigo Arnay 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.
Boardroom15 Oct 2035
Oviedo are $83.0M 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.
Squad15 Oct 2035
“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; Oviedo are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market15 Oct 2035
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
The manager makes an example of Martín Muñoz
“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.
Market15 Oct 2035
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Rodrigo Arnay arrives at Oviedo with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Oct 2035
Alberto Reina breaks a bone — 53 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings8 Oct 2035
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.37, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market8 Oct 2035
“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.
Market8 Oct 2035
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Oviedo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom8 Oct 2035
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Maxime Lengué-Lenou has agreed terms with Elche for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad8 Oct 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Celso Duarte and Oviedo agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Oct 2035
A falling-out at Oviedo
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Oct 2035
Oviedo keep winning on the road
4 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Boardroom8 Oct 2035
$392.2K of the owner's money at Oviedo
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad24 Sep 2035
67 days out for Alberto Reina after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Oviedo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout24 Sep 2035
Agustín Venezia: 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.” Oviedo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market24 Sep 2035
“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 Oviedo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Sep 2035
Tempers go at Oviedo
Agustín Venezia 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.
Squad24 Sep 2035
Words at Oviedo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentín Baudrino 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.
Match22 Sep 2035
Three points for Oviedo, 1‑0 the final word against Antequera in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings24 Sep 2035
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Player ratings24 Sep 2035
Marked 7.58. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout24 Sep 2035
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Sep 2035
74 days out for Alberto Reina after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Oviedo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings17 Sep 2035
Two goals and a mark of 8.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market17 Sep 2035
“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.
Squad17 Sep 2035
A falling-out at Oviedo
Agustín Venezia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces17 Sep 2035
Oviedo supporters have found a favourite in Pedro Ferrer
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Pedro Ferrer 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.
Match15 Sep 2035
Oviedo get the job done against Teruel
A 2‑0 win over Teruel, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match15 Sep 2035
Oviedo are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad17 Sep 2035
Samuel Quainoo 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.
Boardroom17 Sep 2035
The borrowing at Oviedo reaches $85.1M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $85.1M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Sep 2035
Alberto Reina breaks a bone — 81 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market10 Sep 2035
Daniel Molina 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 Oviedo can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Sep 2035
Luka Méndez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Oviedo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2035
Oviedo asked and Sevilla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Valentín Baudrino 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.
Boardroom10 Sep 2035
Oviedo 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.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
“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.
Market10 Sep 2035
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Maxime Lengué-Lenou has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Oviedo.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom27 Mar 2034
The scrutiny sharpens at Oviedo
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Oviedo is running low.
Squad27 Mar 2034
Tempers go at Oviedo
Jorge Moreno 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 Mar 2034
A row about effort at Oviedo
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alberto Reina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad27 Mar 2034
The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Oihan Peña, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad27 Mar 2034
Too much change too quickly at Oviedo
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout27 Mar 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ousmane Dramé, and the manager let it.
Market27 Mar 2034
Raúl Jiménez is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Oviedo has been clear about where Raúl Jiménez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market27 Mar 2034
Oviedo have made Alan Robledo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market27 Mar 2034
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Carlos Fernández signs something — a contract at Oviedo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Jan 2034
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Oviedo
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout30 Jan 2034
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Oviedo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Jan 2034
Tempers go at Oviedo
Jorge Moreno 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.
Boardroom30 Jan 2034
The numbers do not look good at Oviedo
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.
Transfer targets30 Jan 2034
Oviedo asked and Andorra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match28 Jan 2034
0‑1 to Real Murcia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad30 Jan 2034
Dylan Quijano 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.
Loan watch30 Jan 2034
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Oviedo, and 2 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout30 Jan 2034
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Dec 2033
A knee injury of the worst kind for Diego Jiménez
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Oviedo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings26 Dec 2033
7.97, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad26 Dec 2033
Tempers go at Oviedo
Gustavo Juárez 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.
Squad26 Dec 2033
Alberto Reina 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.
Match20 Dec 2033
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match24 Dec 2033
Three points for Oviedo, 1‑0 the final word against Tarazona in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings26 Dec 2033
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Dec 2033
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Oviedo can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout26 Dec 2033
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.