Marked for Abdul Mumin
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
Bryan Urueña breaks a bone — 93 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Girona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergio Arribas and Girona agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Girona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladyslav Vanat 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
At 29 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. David Díaz has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Girona have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Looking ahead16 Aug 2027
Girona take on the side everybody is chasing
Athletic Bilbao arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Market16 Aug 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Girona has been clear about where Francesco Cassata stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market16 Aug 2027
Girona have made Mateu Morey available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Girona
Bryan Gil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Girona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladyslav Vanat 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Girona can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
The dugout17 May 2027
A promise honoured at Girona
Something was said to Sergio Arribas and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market17 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Abel Ruiz’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout17 May 2027
Unai Hernández has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Girona 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cristhian Stuani has written the date down.
Loan watch17 May 2027
21 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match20 Feb 2027
A hiding for Girona
Beaten 0‑8 by Barcelona, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market22 Feb 2027
Bryan Gil has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Girona can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Bryan Gil 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 Girona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Feb 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Girona and Barcelona, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Girona
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladyslav Vanat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Feb 2027
14 goals and a season average of 7.22. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Abdul Mumin
“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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the Girona dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Gavin Bazunu decides it from twelve yards
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Fran Beltrán breaks a bone — 21 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match4 Nov 2026
Girona march on in the cup
Málaga are out and Girona go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Nobody could get near Bryan Gil
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Girona's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Girona has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abel Ruiz and Girona agree another 5 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Girona
Abdul Mumin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ignacio Espinosa 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Bryan Gil runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Girona
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Girona are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Girona
Cristhian Stuani 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Girona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Francés 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 ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 7.44 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Girona had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.” Carlos Aguilar chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Bryan Urueña
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Girona and Alavés cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Alavés came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market19 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladyslav Vanat signs something — a contract at Girona or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.