8 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zamora can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mallorca have kept their man, and Zamora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ivan Mandić is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what AVS can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Aderllan Santos 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.
Something was said to Tunde and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
1‑4 to Ponferradina, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abde 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.
Ponferradina held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Zamora answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
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.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Zamora dressing room in a hurry
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zamora can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abde was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Zaragoza to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zamora and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Jorge Herrera to a room that had heard them before.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
4 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.
Ivan Mandić 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Zamora will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Nobody at Zamora is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Zamora. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
Jonatan Goya 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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abde 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Jorge Herrera left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zamora will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Barakaldo in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
The dugoutKike Márquez has become a man the manager trusts
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AVS can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Nehuén Pérez 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.
He is 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tiago Galletto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Up for the corner, and Markel Lozano delivers — 7.97
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Markel Lozano scored, was marked 7.97, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Jonatan Goya 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.
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Romero 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 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Jorge Herrera to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonatan Goya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
Looking aheadZamora take on the side everybody is chasing
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zamora this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Fumiya Hayakawa is living that version at Zamora, and it tends to show in the first month.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonatan Goya trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
7 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.
He is 23 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.
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.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AVS, another week without a signature from Zé Leite.
Level with 90 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Zamora had all but put away. Real Avilés will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Zamora had all but put away. Bilbao Athletic will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
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.
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Ourense CF, and it could have been more.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A brace, and Carlos Ramos takes the afternoon — 8.02
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Carlos Ramos provided it, and the 8.02 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ismael Athuman scored, was marked 7.94, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Zamora will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Ivan Mandić 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.
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.
“I watch every Zamora game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zaragoza runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Jorge Herrera on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zamora have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Romero 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.
Marked 4.88. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Jonatan Goya 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zamora, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zamora, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Zamora will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Roni scored, was marked 7.59, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Nehuén Pérez 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.
A goal on 91 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Raul Steffens is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutRoni has become a man the manager trusts
Jonatan Goya 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.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Zamora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abde 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 did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Zamora will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Ivan Mandić
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Álex Marcelo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Mandić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Jorge Herrera after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Álvaro Romero
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cultural Leonesa have kept their man, and Zamora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abde was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Zamora close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gimnasia La Plata have kept their man, and Zamora go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Abde 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Abde has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Romero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Zamora than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The fee is $10.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Porto drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estrela da Amadora have kept their man, and AVS go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Ivan Mandić arrives at AVS in a $1.1M statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. AVS have paid $1.1M for Ivan Mandić, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $356.0K — a club that wants Kaíque Rocha enough to be asked twice.
Aderllan Santos 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.
$6.3M was the most the club would pay and Estoril Praia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Casa Pia asked and Estoril Praia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Casa Pia have gone to Leixões with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.9M — a club that wants Miguel Sousa enough to be asked twice.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $11.0M — a club that wants Nehuén Pérez enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to Casa Pia this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alexandre Martins 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sergio Martins is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kaíque Rocha had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Casa Pia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Casa Pia asked and Porto 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 Casa Pia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Jose Ferreira is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Paulo Sousa is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
AVS have gone to Casa Pia with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AVS can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Aderllan Santos 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.
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.