Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isma Ruiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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 Daniel Ramírez to a room that had heard them before.
8 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Córdoba told Diego Percan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Chances created: 7. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Mariano Carmona’s exile
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Isma Ruiz falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Daniel Ramírez, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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 dugout7 Dec 2026
Álex Martín 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.
Yussi Diarra 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.
Marked 7.94 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Córdoba had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Daniel Ramírez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
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 Kevin Medina is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Dani Tasende’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Córdoba needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Two goals and a mark of 9.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Isma Ruiz falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Nobody at Córdoba 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Ramírez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Córdoba told Kevin Medina something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Málaga in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Córdoba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isma Ruiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to Leganés, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Córdoba are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Daniel Ramírez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Isma Ruiz falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
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.
Nobody at Córdoba 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Leganés in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nélson Monte 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 squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Isma Ruiz’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Córdoba needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Christian Carracedo has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Córdoba know, and have known for weeks.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Gijón moved on, Isma Ruiz reports back to Córdoba, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The offer from Elche for Adilson was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Córdoba close the window on a squad of their own making
15 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Córdoba hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Sergi Guardiola 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Isma Ruiz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Córdoba asked and Real Sociedad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Diego Bri is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.