The words a physio says slowly. 104 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tarazona can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sevilla keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Tarazona offered $5.0K; Racing Ferrol 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Osasuna have kept their man, and Tarazona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarazona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roberto Flores, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Aug 2036
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilmar Murillo 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.
In brief
The dugoutJose Suazo asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 160 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces9 Jun 2036
The mood at Tarazona has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tarazona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Racing Santander is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Tarazona asked and Osasuna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarazona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tarazona, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Damián Urbina 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alejandro Alfaro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Alejandro Alfaro 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jaison Gabriel signs something — a contract at Tarazona or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutÀlex Gallardo asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tarazona can pretend not to have heard.
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.
7.70, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Tarazona had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad3 Mar 2036
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Alaba 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Algeciras is saying, and nobody at Tarazona is enjoying the guessing.
Alejandro Alfaro 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.
Tarazona asked and Girona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It finished 2‑1, and it was Iván Vidal’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Tarazona.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Vázquez 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.
Player ratings11 Feb 2036
Damián Urbina was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout11 Feb 2036
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
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.
Player ratings26 Nov 2035
Damián Urbina was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Iván Vidal has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑2, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Jaison Gabriel scored, was marked 7.75, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarazona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Vázquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tarazona, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 Oct 2035
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Interim Coach chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Tarazona had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sevilla, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Levante have kept their man, and Tarazona go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Vázquez 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Tarazona know it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.14 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.60 for the rest of it.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.88 for the rest of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tarazona is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tarazona and Betis Deportivo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Huesca the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Tarazona will enjoy reviewing.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tarazona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.68, and 2 involvements.
Squad4 Dec 2034
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaison Gabriel 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaison Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Jose Suazo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Cristóbal Ortega 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.
Squad13 Nov 2034
9 new faces, and Tarazona are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout13 Nov 2034
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
1 for Jaison Gabriel, marked 7.61, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Tarazona and Racing Santander, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Tarazona and Real Murcia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jack Topley has, at Tarazona, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.