Marked for Ignacio Liberato
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Luciano Herrera 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Newell's Old Boys training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago Mastrolorenzo 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Matías Cóccaro
“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 dugout29 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Newell's Old Boys, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Luca Regiardo is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
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 Julián Contrera is on it.
Market29 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Jherson Mosquera’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Newell's Old Boys will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Ignacio Liberato: 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.” Newell's Old Boys have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Luciano Herrera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oscar Salomón was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch15 Nov 2027
Juan Espínola’s loan is measured in nothing happening
10 clean sheets from 27 appearances at Barracas Central. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luca Regiardo, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Franco Escobar has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Newell's Old Boys will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market15 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nicolás Barros Schelotto’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Loan watch15 Nov 2027
11 appearances at Al Gaish and the goals have stopped going in. Newell's Old Boys lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Newell's Old Boys is running low.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Luciano Herrera 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Oscar Salomón 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Something was said to Guillermo Balzi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Cáseres trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market1 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Saúl Salcedo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Newell's Old Boys will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.