The Portland Timbers Gazette
Market13 Aug 2035
Only the photograph left for Isaac Mabaya
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Isaac Mabaya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Portland Timbers the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words exchanged at Portland Timbers
Matt O'Riley 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.
Market13 Aug 2035
So close: Andrew Thomas’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. San Jose Earthquakes moved on, Andrew Thomas reports back to Portland Timbers, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words at Portland Timbers training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. George Bello 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.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2035
Door shut on Ștefan Chirilă
Portland Timbers asked and FC Cincinnati said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market13 Aug 2035
One of our own: Gio Robinson joins the Portland Timbers first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gio Robinson is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market13 Aug 2035
Luca Bradley steps up from the Portland Timbers academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Luca Bradley has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Match11 Aug 2035
A bad afternoon for Portland Timbers against Austin FC
0‑1 to Austin FC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Aug 2035
David Wright signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Wright and Portland Timbers agree another 3 years.
In brief
- The dugout Cameron Pulisic answers for it
- The dugout When it matters, George Bello plays
- The dugout The manager makes an example of Aidan Stokes