Marked for Darwin Machis
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Diego Rosales has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Llaneros can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
120 days out for Diego Herrera after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Llaneros will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Llaneros
Francisco Soteldo 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Moreno and Llaneros agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Fernando Cordova was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Llaneros pull $1.4M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market8 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rafael Gonzalez signs something — a contract at Llaneros or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Nerves in the Llaneros squad
Darwin Machis has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Llaneros has turned into something else
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.
Match29 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Llaneros
0‑6 against Atletico Venezuela, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad31 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market31 May 2027
Luis Martinez 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 Llaneros can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Soteldo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 May 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Llaneros and Atletico Venezuela in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The dugout31 May 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
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.
The dugout31 May 2027
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 0‑6 defeat, delivered by Diego Rosales to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces3 May 2027
The mood at Llaneros has turned into something else
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.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 0‑4 by Portuguesa, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market3 May 2027
“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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match1 May 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Llaneros
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Soteldo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 May 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.
Match3 May 2027
The half-term report on Llaneros
Position 16, 3 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Nobody left the Llaneros dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Mar 2027
12 matches without a win for Llaneros
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Llaneros are no longer polite ones.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francisco Soteldo and Llaneros agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match6 Mar 2027
Llaneros cannot find the net
4 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergio Casseres, and the manager let it.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Marked 7.41. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Fernando Gonzalez is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Llaneros lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match13 Feb 2027
1‑5 to Atletico Venezuela, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match13 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Llaneros's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Llaneros has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Feb 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market15 Feb 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Llaneros
Francisco Soteldo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match13 Feb 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Llaneros and Atletico Venezuela, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad15 Feb 2027
18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Darwin Machis is still being punished for one mistake
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Player ratings
Sergio Casseres will replay that one
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Junior Machis 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 Llaneros can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Plaza Colonia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Francisco Soteldo 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Almirante Brown: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes Rafael Otero a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Llaneros. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market4 Jan 2027
The window shut and Junior Soteldo is still in the building
Llaneros spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Darwin Machis has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Llaneros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fernando Cordova 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Llaneros, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Llaneros know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes Rafael Otero a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Llaneros. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rafael Gonzalez, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oscar Rincon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Llaneros know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes Rafael Otero a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Llaneros. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
“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 Llaneros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Francisco Soteldo and Llaneros agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Llaneros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Llaneros
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francisco Soteldo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Alejandro Rondon 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Martinez, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francisco Soteldo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout10 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.” Diego Rosales chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.