Marked for Leonardo Herrera
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.
Match20 Jan 2029
Cristian Peñate wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Cristian Peñate found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Depor went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
A brace, and Cristian Peñate takes the afternoon — 9.00
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Cristian Peñate provided it, and the 9.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
“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.
Match20 Jan 2029
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market22 Jan 2029
Juan Flórez has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universitario Popayan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Universitario Popayan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad15 Jan 2029
5 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolas Santos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Universitario Popayan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Jan 2029
Universitario Popayan spent the window trying to move Luis Caicedo on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Jan 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Jorge Cordoba
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Universitario Popayan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
Javier Palacios has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Universitario Popayan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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 Universitario Popayan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market8 Jan 2029
Luis Caicedo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Universitario Popayan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Lemos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Brian Cardona 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
Jorge Cordoba damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A fracture rules Leonardo Herrera out for 37 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Universitario Popayan had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Universitario Popayan have done the hard part with Atletico Nacional, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets1 Jan 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Bogota is saying, and nobody at Universitario Popayan is enjoying the guessing.
Market1 Jan 2029
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Universitario Popayan can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Alfredo Martinez 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.
Market1 Jan 2029
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Javier Palacios has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 Dec 2028
Gustavo Lemos 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 Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Caicedo 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.
Transfer targets4 Dec 2028
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.
Market4 Dec 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jorge Lemos is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market4 Dec 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kevin Torres is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market4 Dec 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Freddy Castillo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Leonardo Herrera out for 73 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Alfredo Martinez 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 Nov 2028
Words at Universitario Popayan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Lemos 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 dugout27 Nov 2028
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 Alfredo Martinez is on it.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Gustavo Lemos knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Universitario Popayan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market27 Nov 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Luis Caicedo may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Leonardo Herrera out for 81 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Universitario Popayan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Gustavo Lemos 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Daniel Riascos 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.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Universitario Popayan now.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Wilmar Cordoba
“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 dugout20 Nov 2028
Angelo Rovegno knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Universitario Popayan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom13 Nov 2028
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market13 Nov 2028
Luis Caicedo 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 Universitario Popayan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Alfredo Martinez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Lemos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad13 Nov 2028
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
Pablo Medina asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market13 Nov 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Santiago Ramirez signs something — a contract at Universitario Popayan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market13 Nov 2028
The clock does Juan Flórez’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Universitario Popayan could ask drops and the wages Juan Flórez can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Cristian Peñate 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Gustavo Lemos 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Pablo Medina knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Universitario Popayan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market6 Nov 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alfredo Martinez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.