The Alverca Gazette
Market19 Apr 2027
Léo Chú 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 Alverca can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Alverca training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zé Rafael 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 ratings19 Apr 2027
Stéphane Diarra beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match17 Apr 2027
Santa Clara take the points off Alverca
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Leonardo Pinto out for 31 days
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Leonardo Pinto, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Sabit Abdulai 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.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
Samy Merheg has seen enough of São Bernardo
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Alverca, and 1 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Afonso Rodrigues faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Afonso Rodrigues after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Tamble Monteiro has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alverca 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.
In brief
- The dugout Dawda Camara knocks on the manager’s door
- Market The Figueiredo talk will not go away
- Squad A wage question at Alverca