Marked for David Mathieu
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Apr 2035
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.
Player ratings30 Apr 2035
Ousmane Camara, 33, rolls back the years — 8.05
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market30 Apr 2035
“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.
Match28 Apr 2035
4 matches without a win for Castellón
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Castellón are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Álvaro García 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.
Market30 Apr 2035
David Mathieu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Castellón they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Apr 2035
The manager makes an example of Diego Barri
“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.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Words at Castellón training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agustín Sienra 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.
Match28 Apr 2035
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom2 Apr 2035
Interim Coach has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Castellón can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings2 Apr 2035
Age has not caught Pablo Santiago yet — 8.43
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.43 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad2 Apr 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Iñigo Córdoba and Castellón agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Álvaro García 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.
Market2 Apr 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Castellón is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Words at Castellón training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Santiago 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.
Boardroom2 Apr 2035
$3.5M of the owner's money at Castellón
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Match31 Mar 2035
A 2‑1 win over Cultural Leonesa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Mar 2035
Castellón 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.
Squad5 Mar 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings5 Mar 2035
Age has not caught Ousmane Camara yet — 8.02
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market5 Mar 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Castellón can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Mar 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Diego Barri and Castellón agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2035
Álvaro García 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.
Market5 Mar 2035
David Mathieu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Castellón they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Mar 2035
Words at Castellón training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Santiago 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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2035
$3.2M of the owner's money at Castellón
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Feb 2035
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
Match3 Feb 2035
Beaten 0‑3 by Real Sociedad, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 107 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom5 Feb 2035
A stranger takes charge at Castellón
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
Boardroom5 Feb 2035
“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.
Market5 Feb 2035
“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 Castellón, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Feb 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Pablo Santiago and Castellón agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom5 Feb 2035
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. David Mathieu has agreed terms with Elche for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Álvaro García 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
Crisis
Squad17 Jul 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Santiago Puentes
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Castellón lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom17 Jul 2034
The scrutiny sharpens at Castellón
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Castellón is running low.
Squad17 Jul 2034
Mario Álvarez breaks a bone — 25 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jun 2034
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Castellón may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Jun 2034
Yaya Dukuly 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 Castellón can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom12 Jun 2034
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mario Álvarez has agreed terms with Burgos for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Diego Barri 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.
Squad12 Jun 2034
Pablo Santiago 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.
Squad12 Jun 2034
David Mathieu gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. David Mathieu has just signed for Castellón, and for once the answer mattered.