Marked for Valentín Cabrera
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom11 Dec 2034
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Madryn
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market11 Dec 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Madryn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Dec 2034
60 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Yvo Calleros in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Madryn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Dec 2034
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Madryn will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Words at Madryn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Pérez 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.
Squad11 Dec 2034
“The easiest signature of my career.” Valentín Cabrera and Madryn agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom11 Dec 2034
Wages eat 98% of everything Madryn earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market11 Dec 2034
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Madryn could get for him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Nov 2034
“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 The request is on a desk at Madryn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market20 Nov 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Madryn is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Tempers go at Madryn
Yvo Calleros 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.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Bruno Pérez 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.
Boardroom20 Nov 2034
No signings allowed at Madryn
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Bruno Pérez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Madryn 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Oct 2034
“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 Madryn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Oct 2034
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Madryn they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Tempers go at Madryn
Yvo Calleros 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 Oct 2034
Bruno Pérez 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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2034
No signings allowed at Madryn
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad23 Oct 2034
Bruno Pérez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Madryn 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Sep 2034
“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 Madryn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Sep 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Madryn is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Sep 2034
Tempers go at Madryn
Yvo Calleros 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.
Boardroom25 Sep 2034
No signings allowed at Madryn
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Player ratings25 Sep 2034
Lautaro Cipollone was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad25 Sep 2034
Defences have started doubling up on Bruno Pérez
10 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match23 Sep 2034
It needed Lautaro Cipollone to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against All Boys, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad25 Sep 2034
Bruno Pérez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Madryn 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.
Squad25 Sep 2034
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bautista Ponce, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Aug 2034
16 matches without a win for Madryn
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Madryn are no longer polite ones.
Match26 Aug 2034
Nowhere to hide for Madryn
0‑5 against Temperley, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market28 Aug 2034
Juan Bianchi 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 Madryn can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Aug 2034
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Madryn they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Aug 2034
Tempers go at Madryn
Yvo Calleros 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.
Match26 Aug 2034
No clean sheets in sight for Madryn
5 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.
Squad28 Aug 2034
Bruno Pérez 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.
Match26 Aug 2034
The goals have deserted Madryn
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Madryn can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad28 Aug 2034
Yvo Calleros 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Jul 2034
The wait goes on for Madryn
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market31 Jul 2034
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Central Norte moved on, Stephen Otieno reports back to Madryn, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market31 Jul 2034
“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 Madryn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jul 2034
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valentín Cabrera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Madryn the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 Jul 2034
Tempers go at Madryn
Yvo Calleros 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.
Squad31 Jul 2034
Bruno Pérez 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.
Match29 Jul 2034
Arsenal left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom31 Jul 2034
No signings allowed at Madryn
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad31 Jul 2034
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Jul 2034
No end in sight to Madryn's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Madryn has to find a result from somewhere.
Match15 Jul 2034
A hiding for Madryn
Beaten 0‑3 by Aldosivi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market17 Jul 2034
Felipe Ruiz 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 Madryn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Tempers go at Madryn
Yvo Calleros 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.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Bruno Pérez 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.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Yvo Calleros 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.
Boardroom17 Jul 2034
Doors closed at Madryn
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Boardroom17 Jul 2034
90% of the income goes out in wages at Madryn
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.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Estanislao Jara has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Madryn 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces10 Jul 2034
Anger at Madryn spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match10 Jul 2034
Madryn sink to position 18
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match8 Jul 2034
No end in sight to Madryn's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Madryn has to find a result from somewhere.
Market10 Jul 2034
The bid was some way short and Madryn did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Jul 2034
“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 Madryn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jul 2034
Yvo Calleros in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Madryn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jul 2034
Words at Madryn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Pérez 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.
Match8 Jul 2034
1‑3 to San Miguel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market10 Jul 2034
The phone has started ringing about Valentín Cabrera again, and this time the name on the line is Nueva Chicago. Madryn are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Apr 2034
18 matches without a win for Madryn
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Madryn are no longer polite ones.
The terraces17 Apr 2034
The mood at Madryn 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.
Match17 Apr 2034
Madryn are in real trouble now
Position 18, 5 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market17 Apr 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Madryn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Apr 2034
Tempers go at Madryn
Yvo Calleros 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.
Squad17 Apr 2034
Bruno Pérez 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.
Match15 Apr 2034
Alvarado left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Apr 2034
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Felipe Arias commits to Madryn for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Feb 2034
No end in sight to Madryn's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Madryn has to find a result from somewhere.
Market27 Feb 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Madryn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Feb 2034
Yvo Calleros in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Madryn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Feb 2034
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad27 Feb 2034
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match25 Feb 2034
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Estudiantes defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces13 Jun 2033
Anger at Madryn spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match13 Jun 2033
Madryn are in real trouble now
Position 18, 7 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match11 Jun 2033
Nowhere to hide for Madryn
1‑4 against Gimnasia y Tiro, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match11 Jun 2033
5 matches without a win for Madryn
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Madryn are no longer polite ones.
Squad13 Jun 2033
“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.
Squad13 Jun 2033
Tempers go at Madryn
Lucas Diarte 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.
Squad13 Jun 2033
Words at Madryn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Pérez 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.
Player ratings13 Jun 2033
A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom13 Jun 2033
Madryn are $17.0M 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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Inquest at Madryn
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Boardroom
99% of the income goes out in wages at Madryn
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Squad
When it matters, Lucas Diarte plays
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings9 May 2033
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 May 2033
Bruno Pérez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Madryn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 May 2033
Three points for Madryn, 2‑1 the final word against San Miguel in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces9 May 2033
At 17 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Boardroom9 May 2033
No signings allowed at Madryn
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Player ratings9 May 2033
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings9 May 2033
Lautaro Cipollone was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Boardroom9 May 2033
The Madryn debt reaches $16.9M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Boardroom9 May 2033
104% of the income goes out in wages at Madryn
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Apr 2033
36 matches without a win for Madryn
The run now stands at 36, and the questions being asked around Madryn are no longer polite ones.
The terraces18 Apr 2033
Anger at Madryn spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match18 Apr 2033
Madryn sink to position 18
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad18 Apr 2033
Valentín Cabrera: 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.” Madryn have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Apr 2033
Tempers go at Madryn
Lucas Diarte 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.
Squad18 Apr 2033
The manager makes an example of Lucas Diarte
“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.
Squad18 Apr 2033
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Player ratings18 Apr 2033
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match16 Apr 2033
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Alvarado will be the happier side with the point.