Marked for Gringo
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jan 2033
“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 The request is on a desk at Almagro, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Jan 2033
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 Jan 2033
“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 dugout31 Jan 2033
Franco Monla gets picked when it counts
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 Franco Monla is on it.
The dugout31 Jan 2033
Martín Moretti knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martín Moretti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market31 Jan 2033
The Franco Monla talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Almagro know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom27 Sep 2032
Pressure builds in the Almagro boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Match27 Sep 2032
Almagro are in real trouble now
Position 13, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad27 Sep 2032
Words exchanged at Almagro
Enzo Silcan 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.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
Rulo 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.
Market27 Sep 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sergio Escobar signs something — a contract at Almagro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout27 Sep 2032
Tucu asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Oct 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Almagro this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Oct 2031
107% of the income goes out in wages at Almagro
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.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Ugarte 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.
Market20 Oct 2031
The name of Franco Monla keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Almagro say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
Tucu knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Almagro, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces18 Aug 2031
Anger at Almagro spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market18 Aug 2031
Almagro say no — this time
The offer from Espanyol for Martín Moretti was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market18 Aug 2031
Fernando Godoy has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Almagro they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Aug 2031
A falling-out at Almagro
Gino Barbieri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Gringo signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gringo and Almagro agree another 3 years.
The dugout18 Aug 2031
Franco Monla has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Almagro 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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Ugarte 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.
The dugout18 Aug 2031
The manager makes an example of Fernando Godoy
“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.
Market18 Aug 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gino Barbieri signs something — a contract at Almagro or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Aug 2031
Almagro finish in position 11
27 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Player ratings4 Aug 2031
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match2 Aug 2031
The wait goes on for Almagro
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout4 Aug 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Almagro may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Aug 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Franco Monla and Almagro agree another 4 years.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Gaston Olivera 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.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Words at Almagro training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gino Barbieri 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.
Match2 Aug 2031
Tristán Suárez left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market4 Aug 2031
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gringo has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.