Patronato have received the call every well-run club eventually receives — somebody bigger has noticed Interim Coach. Saying no is easy; keeping him convinced is the actual work.
Valentin Pereyra 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Felipe Falcao signs something — a contract at Patronato or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Patronato will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Miguel Ángel Giménez leaves Patronato the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
That is the business done at Patronato until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
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.
Patronato asked and Defensa y Justicia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Gimnasia La Plata: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The clubs have shaken hands with Belgrano; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Patronato asked and Tigre said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Patronato have made the call to Aldosivi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Patronato, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Two goals and a mark of 8.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Patronato had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dock Sud, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Patronato have done the hard part with Independiente Rivadavia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Felipe Falcao. 3‑1 against All Boys, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Patronato asked and Gimnasia y Esgrima said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.93, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings19 May 2036
Diego Lucero, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Patronato have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
1‑4 against Nueva Chicago, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Patronato can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Martín Sosa and Patronato agree another 3 years.
The dugout12 May 2036
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑4 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 dugout12 May 2036
Daniel Castro 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.
Beaten 4 times, with 4 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Patronato have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Patronato they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patronato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Patronato will try not to make too much of it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Agustín Peralta and Patronato agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout5 May 2036
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
Squad5 May 2036
Daniel Castro 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.
3‑0, and Emiliano Torres took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Patronato tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings28 Apr 2036
Diego Lucero, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.87
A mark of 7.87 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Felipe Falcao and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Words at Patronato training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Pereyra 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Patronato had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 Apr 2036
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad28 Apr 2036
The division's best last weekend was a Patronato man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Diego Lucero was the best thing in any of them.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Patronato scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings21 Apr 2036
A brace, and Diego Lucero takes the afternoon — 9.08
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Diego Lucero provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
At 21 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.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Madryn were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Julián Benítez and Patronato agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout21 Apr 2036
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Daniel Castro
Two goals and a mark of 8.16 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Patronato, and it is not being withdrawn.
Valentin Pereyra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings14 Apr 2036
Nicolás Soria 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Valentín Pereyra and Patronato agree another 3 years.
“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 dugout14 Apr 2036
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.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Pereyra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Patronato the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Emiliano Torres 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.
Position 6, 12 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
Valentin Pereyra 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Pérez 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Colegiales? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patronato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against San Martín, and it could have been more.
Player ratings10 Mar 2036
A brace, and Felipe Falcao takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Felipe Falcao provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Patronato they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Felipe Falcao 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout10 Mar 2036
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Interim Coach, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Patronato interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
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.
Carlos Pereyra 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Patronato they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patronato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Day 10 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Felipe Falcao scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Madryn, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout11 Feb 2036
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Castro, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Words at Patronato training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enzo Villalba 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.
In brief
The dugoutDaniel Castro is still being punished for one mistake
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at San Lorenzo is saying, and nobody at Patronato is enjoying the guessing.
Valentin Pereyra 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.
Everybody at Patronato saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Club have kept their man, and Patronato go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Valentin Pereyra 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Patronato than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Patronato know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Position 6, 23 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Patronato know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Carlos Pereyra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Patronato the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patronato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Words at Patronato training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Santecchia 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.
Valentin Pereyra 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.
Position 6, 23 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Patronato will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Patronato this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Patronato will try again when the window opens; Instituto may not be selling by then.
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 Benjamín Romano is on it.
The deal with Newell's Old Boys is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Patronato asked and Villa San Carlos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pedro Santecchia signs something — a contract at Patronato or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Julián Núñez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.