The Portland Timbers Gazette
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
A brace, and David Da Costa takes the afternoon — 8.90
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Da Costa provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
A new deal for Dylan Pepi
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Joao Ortiz signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joao Ortiz and Portland Timbers agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets6 Mar 2028
No deal for Ștefan Chirilă at that price
Portland Timbers offered $410.0K; FC Cincinnati said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Portland Timbers
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Antony 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.
Transfer targets6 Mar 2028
Portland Timbers rebuffed over Damian Łaś
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Austin FC have kept their man, and Portland Timbers go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match4 Mar 2028
David Da Costa sends Portland Timbers past Los Angeles Football Club
It finished 2‑0, and it was David Da Costa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Portland Timbers.
Market6 Mar 2028
One of our own: Paul Howard joins the Portland Timbers first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Paul Howard is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
- Market Dylan Howard steps up from the Portland Timbers academy
- Market Portland Timbers promote Luca Howard from within
- Market Portland Timbers promote Mark Moore from within