Cote

Left Back - Cádiz
3 Jan 2027
Sunday
Process

Marked for Cote

22 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Cote damages knee ligaments — 20 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Cádiz

1‑4 against Albacete, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Player ratings

Javi Ontiveros was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 25. 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Cádiz

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

David 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 Cádiz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Roger Martí gets it from the manager

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Cádiz 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.

The dugout

Álvaro León answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

4 past David Gil

Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.

In brief

Back issues
21 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Cote

28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cádiz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Damián 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Javi Ontiveros

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Gonzalo Petit 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 Cádiz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Damián sends Cádiz past Córdoba

It finished 1‑0, and it was Damián’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cádiz.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Damián

Marked 8.04 — 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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Iuri Tabatadze

“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 dugout

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.” Álvaro León, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Iza

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.

In brief

20 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Cote out for 36 days

36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cádiz lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Filip Kostić runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Cádiz

Cucho Hernández 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Cádiz

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

Cádiz supporters have found a favourite in Damián

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Damián 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.

Market

One of our own: Mateo González joins the Cádiz first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mateo González is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Match

Cádiz find a way past Andorra

Andorra made Cádiz work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

One of those days for Javi Ontiveros

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Iza gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

19 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Cote damages knee ligaments — 45 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 45 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Cucho Hernández wants more than Cádiz are offering

“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.

Player ratings

Javi Ontiveros beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Cucho Hernández 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 Cádiz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Damián 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.

Loan watch

Victor Aznar counts the days

“I watch every Cádiz game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Valladolid runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cádiz against Racing Santander

0‑2 to Racing Santander, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for David Gil

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Gil, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Álvaro León answers for it

“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.

In brief

18 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Cote

53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cádiz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A falling-out at Cádiz

Cucho Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cádiz

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Damián was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Gijón take the points off Cádiz

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Javi Ontiveros at his very best

Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cádiz.

The dugout

No hiding place for Roger Martí

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roger Martí, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Álvaro León faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Álvaro León after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Cucho Hernández knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cádiz, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Player ratings

García Pascual runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

  • The dugout The form table has caught Iza
  • Looking ahead The leaders are next for Cádiz
  • Squad No place for Maximiliano Alaniz in the new shape
17 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Cote damages knee ligaments — 61 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 61 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

The dugout

Cucho Hernández keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cádiz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Vintage Cote — 8.18

At 37 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.18, and nobody on the pitch better.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Filip Kostić

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

A falling-out at Cádiz

Filip Kostić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Cádiz training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damián 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.

Match

Javi Ontiveros the difference as Cádiz beat Zaragoza

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javi Ontiveros. 2‑0 against Zaragoza, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

One of those days for Javi Ontiveros

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Maximiliano Alaniz signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maximiliano Alaniz commits to Cádiz for another 4 years.

In brief

  • The dugout Iker Recio gets it from the manager
  • The dugout Álvaro León: “That is the standard”
  • The dugout Somebody else is better right now than Iza
16 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Javi Ontiveros was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 36. 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.

Squad

Germán Pezzella 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 Cádiz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Damián 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 dugout

Brian Ocampo gets it from the manager

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Cote

7.62, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Cádiz had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

The form table has caught Javi Castro

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

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.” Álvaro León chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

Market

The Cucho Hernández talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cádiz know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Urko Izeta 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 Urko Izeta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

5 Edition

The Cádiz Herald

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

89 days out for Iuri Tabatadze after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cádiz will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Cádiz throw away a 2-goal lead

2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Cultural Leonesa the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Cádiz will enjoy reviewing.

Market

Cádiz turn down Gijón for García Pascual

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Player ratings

Both of them Cucho Hernández's — 8.83

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.83, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Transfer targets

No deal for Dani Cárdenas at that price

Cádiz offered $3.4M; Rayo Vallecano said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Transfer targets

Barcelona tell Cádiz: Marc Bernal is not for sale

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.

Player ratings

Cote, 37, rolls back the years — 7.82

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Player ratings

Moussa Diakité pops up at the right end — 7.80

7.80, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

Damián 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.

In brief