The Itabaiana Chronicle
Squad8 Mar 2027
Vitão breaks a bone — 27 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Tiago Borges has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Itabaiana can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Vinícius Matheus signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vinícius Matheus and Itabaiana agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Itabaiana
Vinícius Matheus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Itabaiana
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Raphael Gogoni was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market8 Mar 2027
One of our own: Kaka joins the Itabaiana first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kaka is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
One of our own: Luiz Costa joins the Itabaiana first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Luiz Costa is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
Itabaiana and Ezequiel González are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager's exit leaves Vitão exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Vitão is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
- The dugout César knocks on the manager’s door
- The dugout The manager makes an example of Risadinha
- The dugout Igor Lopes is still being punished for one mistake