Marked for Ignacio Perez
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Colon
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market27 Nov 2028
“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.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Jairo Guerra has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Colon is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Colon
Agustín Rodríguez 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Colon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Chopitea was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
102% of the income goes out in wages at Colon
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Oct 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Colon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market16 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Colon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Chopitea was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Ignacio Perez
“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.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emiliano Vidart trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Mar 2028
132 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Colon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
A debut Ignacio Perez will not forget — 7.07
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.07 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
A brace, and Leandro Méndez takes the afternoon — 7.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Leandro Méndez provided it, and the 7.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Jairo Guerra has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Colon is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Colon
Agustín Rodríguez 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.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Colon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Chopitea was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces20 Mar 2028
He is 22 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Feb 2028
“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 Colon, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Martín Coirolo: 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.” Colon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Feb 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín de Armas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Colon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match12 Feb 2028
4 matches without a win for Colon
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Colon are no longer polite ones.
Match12 Feb 2028
4 matches without a goal for Colon
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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Colon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
5 academy graduates step up at Colon
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Colon asked and Boston River said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Colon is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.