The Santa Cruz de Natal Sentinel
Squad21 Feb 2033
Luís Fernando breaks a bone — 162 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 162 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom21 Feb 2033
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Santa Cruz de Natal
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad21 Feb 2033
Words exchanged at Santa Cruz de Natal
Warlen 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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2033
No signings allowed at Santa Cruz de Natal
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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2033
The Santa Cruz de Natal debt reaches $6.4M
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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2033
Wages swallow 109% of the Santa Cruz de Natal income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad21 Feb 2033
Santa Cruz de Natal lose Cafu
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad21 Feb 2033
Words at Santa Cruz de Natal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandre Shengelia 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.
Market21 Feb 2033
Renato Teixeira linked with a move away
The name of Renato Teixeira keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Santa Cruz de Natal say nothing, which says plenty.
In brief
- Market Santa Cruz de Natal put Jose Otero up for sale
- The dugout Renato Martins knocks on the manager's door
- The dugout Evidence Dolly keeps his manager's vote