Marked for Daniel Ferrari
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Feb 2033
No end in sight to Güemes's wait for a win
26 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Güemes has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom28 Feb 2033
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Market28 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Feb 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 Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Feb 2033
The manager makes an example of Daniel Ferrari
“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 dugout28 Feb 2033
Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings28 Feb 2033
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match26 Feb 2033
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Talleres will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead28 Feb 2033
Defensores next, and one man in the Güemes dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jan 2033
The name of Gianfranco Baier keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Güemes say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout31 Jan 2033
Gabriel Rojas 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 Gabriel Rojas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 Jan 2033
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Daniel Ferrari has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout24 Jan 2033
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Tempers go at Güemes
Dionel Ansaldo 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.
Boardroom24 Jan 2033
85% of the income goes out in wages at Güemes
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.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Fede signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fede and Güemes agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 Jan 2033
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.
The dugout24 Jan 2033
“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.
Squad24 Jan 2033
A row about effort at Güemes
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market24 Jan 2033
The name of Facundo Melillán keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Güemes say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout24 Jan 2033
Gabriel Rojas 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 Gabriel Rojas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout27 Dec 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Güemes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2032
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Güemes have done the hard part with Aldosivi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad27 Dec 2032
Tempers go at Güemes
Dionel Ansaldo 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.
Transfer targets27 Dec 2032
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom27 Dec 2032
Wages swallow 86% of the Güemes income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout27 Dec 2032
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 Gianfranco Baier is on it.
Squad27 Dec 2032
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Renato Figueiredo 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.
Market27 Dec 2032
The name of Facundo Melillán keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Güemes say nothing, which says plenty.
Market27 Dec 2032
Güemes have made Daniel Ferrari available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Dec 2032
The wait goes on for Güemes
21 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2032
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad6 Dec 2032
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom6 Dec 2032
Crisis meeting at Güemes
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market6 Dec 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout6 Dec 2032
This is not rotation. Lucas Fantino has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Güemes is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2032
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Güemes have done the hard part with Instituto, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad6 Dec 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2032
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces16 Feb 2032
The mood at Güemes 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.
Player ratings16 Feb 2032
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.24, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad16 Feb 2032
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout16 Feb 2032
Liam Bruno: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Güemes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market16 Feb 2032
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match14 Feb 2032
At last: Güemes win one
8 matches without a win, and then this, against Quilmes. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad16 Feb 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Güemes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces16 Feb 2032
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Dionel Ansaldo 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.
Match14 Feb 2032
Three points for Güemes, 2‑0 the final word against Quilmes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
A row about effort at Güemes
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Chavo's mistake
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Feb 2032
8 matches without a win for Güemes
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Güemes are no longer polite ones.
Market9 Feb 2032
“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 Güemes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Tempers go at Güemes
Dionel Ansaldo 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.
The dugout9 Feb 2032
“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.
Match7 Feb 2032
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Feb 2032
This is not rotation. Leonardo Pérez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Güemes is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings9 Feb 2032
Dionel Ansaldo ran the middle of the pitch — 6.65
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.65, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Words at Güemes training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Rojas 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 dugout9 Feb 2032
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom12 Jan 2032
The scrutiny sharpens at Güemes
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Güemes is running low.
Match12 Jan 2032
Güemes sink to position 23
26 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market12 Jan 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Güemes can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Tempers go at Güemes
Dionel Ansaldo 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.
Market12 Jan 2032
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Facundo Vidal 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.
Market12 Jan 2032
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Federico Molina 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.
Market12 Jan 2032
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Ferrari is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Transfer targets12 Jan 2032
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Güemes will try again when the window opens; Colegiales may not be selling by then.
The dugout12 Jan 2032
“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.