Marked for Edison Callens
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Aug 2036
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cienciano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Aug 2036
Palmberg in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Aug 2036
The manager makes an example of Alejo Navarro
“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.
Squad11 Aug 2036
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Edison Callens commits to Cienciano for another 3 years.
Market11 Aug 2036
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad11 Aug 2036
A row about effort at Cienciano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julián Payares was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Mar 2036
No end in sight to Cienciano's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cienciano has to find a result from somewhere.
Match15 Mar 2036
Beaten 0‑3 by Melgar, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match17 Mar 2036
Every point is an argument now for Cienciano
Position 11 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match15 Mar 2036
Cienciano cannot find the net
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Market17 Mar 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cienciano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Palmberg in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cienciano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Cienciano is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Match15 Mar 2036
Cienciano are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 May 2035
“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 Cienciano, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 May 2035
The drought breaks for Cienciano
10 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Cesar Vallejo were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad28 May 2035
Adrián Expósito 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.
Squad28 May 2035
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Román Calderón 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 ratings28 May 2035
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match26 May 2035
A 1‑0 win over Cesar Vallejo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market28 May 2035
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Player ratings28 May 2035
Marked 7.93 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Cienciano had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 May 2035
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cienciano told Román Calderón something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
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Player ratings
Eber Moreno shuts the door
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Julián Payares
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Oct 2034
Cienciano are in real trouble now
Position 10, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Tomás Barbero 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.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Cienciano is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Market30 Oct 2034
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jose Caceda is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market30 Oct 2034
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gabriel Garces 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.
Market30 Oct 2034
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nelson Benavente 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.
Market30 Oct 2034
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Edison Callens 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.
Squad30 Oct 2034
Words at Cienciano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benigno Palacio 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 dugout30 Oct 2034
Victor Abram asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.