Marked for Moisés
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
9 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.
The terraces24 May 2027
The mood at Mirandés has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match22 May 2027
Mirandés throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Granada the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Mirandés will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A brace, and Idrissa Guèye takes the afternoon — 8.85
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Idrissa Guèye provided it, and the 8.85 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 May 2027
No sign of nerves from Ali Houary at 21 — 7.63
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ali Houary did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout24 May 2027
Moisés says Mirandés went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad24 May 2027
Luiz Felipe 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 dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Aitor Uzkudun
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Mirandés
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Josué Dorrio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 43. 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.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad3 May 2027
Luiz Felipe 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 Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 May 2027
A bad afternoon for Mirandés against Eibar
0‑1 to Eibar, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 May 2027
Josué Dorrio 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 dugout3 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad3 May 2027
Thiago Helguera named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Thiago Helguera is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Aarón Martín
“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 dugout3 May 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Josué Dorrio
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Supporters organise against the Mirandés board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match1 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Mirandés
Position 20 and 23 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
7 matches without a win for Mirandés
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Mirandés are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Idrissa Guèye, 20, steals the show — 7.83
Marked 7.83 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad1 Mar 2027
He is 20, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Mirandés
Luiz Felipe 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 terraces1 Mar 2027
He is 20 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Mirandés training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Pepe 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
No hiding place for Moisés
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Moisés, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Mirandés
Igor Nikić 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Mirandés are at home on the road
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Martí Serrano 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
A 1‑0 win over Castellón, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Moisés 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.
Match11 Jan 2027
The half-term report on Mirandés
Position 16, 21 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Inter: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Leo Nieto could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match14 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Mirandés
Position 21 and 11 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Josué Dorrio 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 Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Javi Hernàndez 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cristian Santiago is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javi Hernàndez. 1‑0 against Valladolid, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Mirandés training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Pepe 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Moisés 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 ratings14 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.75 on the card, and the Mirandés support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
12 matches without a win for Mirandés
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Mirandés are no longer polite ones.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Mirandés
0‑3 against Cádiz, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Igor Nikić 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 Mirandés this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Mirandés training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Pepe 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Moisés
“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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Mirandés 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 dugout2 Nov 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 0‑3 Leo Nieto left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wigan Athletic have kept their man, and Mirandés go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Mirandés
Josué Dorrio and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and Mirandés 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The formation has left Moisés behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Mirandés will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Looking ahead31 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Albacete in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Moisés does not fit this one
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
9 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Mirandés
Igor Nikić 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The formation has left Rodrigo Pepe behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Mirandés will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Lanús have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Leganés leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Leo Nieto: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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.