Marked for James Ramirez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Feb 2027
4 matches without a win for Valledupar
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Valledupar are no longer polite ones.
Match6 Feb 2027
4 matches without a goal for Valledupar
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Juan Camilo Largacha 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Wilmar Ramirez 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
7.26, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Valledupar had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Victor Arias
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Victor Arias has come out of that comparison in the side, and Valledupar have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Hector Garcia 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 Valledupar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 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.” Brian Diaz chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Jorge Santos
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Jorge Palacios 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Diaz 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
Carlos Ramirez 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 Valledupar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 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 Valledupar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Jorge Palacios 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Jorge Palacios 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Daniel Valencia is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
James Ramirez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Cristian Rodriguez 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 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Jorge Santos, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Wilmar Ramirez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hector Garcia and Valledupar agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Jorge Palacios 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Valledupar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Diaz 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.