Marked for Raúl Sánchez
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market18 Jun 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Getafe have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market18 Jun 2029
Leganés pay $7.0M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Alavés have kept their man, and Getafe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market18 Jun 2029
Roy Revivo has left for Sevilla in a $5.4M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Getafe have gone to Real Sociedad 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Getafe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
$320.0K was the most the club would pay and Albacete 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
A move Luis Rolón would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luis Rolón is living that version at Getafe, and it tends to show in the first month.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 May 2029
No end in sight to Getafe's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Getafe has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 May 2029
Tempers go at Getafe
Nemanja Gudelj 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 dugout21 May 2029
This is not rotation. Raúl Sánchez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Getafe is pretending otherwise.
Squad21 May 2029
400 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Getafe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Coba 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 dugout21 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Coba
“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.
Match19 May 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 May 2029
Luka Marín: “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 dugout21 May 2029
The plan did not have a place for Abdelkabir Abqar
Nobody at Getafe 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Apr 2029
No end in sight to Getafe's wait for a win
23 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Getafe has to find a result from somewhere.
Market23 Apr 2029
Bruno Mariani hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Getafe can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Getafe
Abdelkabir Abqar 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Raúl Sánchez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Getafe is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Getafe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juanmi 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Coba
“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 dugout23 Apr 2029
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
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.” Luka Marín chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match21 Apr 2029
Point won or two lost for Getafe?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Elche? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Getafe's wait for a win
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Getafe has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Getafe can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Getafe
Abdelkabir Abqar 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Raúl Sánchez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Getafe is pretending otherwise.
Match24 Mar 2029
Real Madrid Castilla left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Getafe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
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 Luka Marín left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Feb 2029
16 matches without a win for Getafe
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Getafe are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Getafe
Nemanja Gudelj 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.
Match24 Feb 2029
The run at home goes on for Getafe
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Raúl Sánchez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Getafe is pretending otherwise.
Match24 Feb 2029
6 unbeaten for Getafe
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Getafe did not have in the autumn.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Getafe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Coba 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 ratings26 Feb 2029
Marked 7.00 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Match24 Feb 2029
Late, late show earns Getafe a point
Minute 87, against Ceuta, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Coba
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Jan 2029
The wait goes on for Getafe
10 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
A hiding for Getafe
Beaten 0‑3 by Mallorca, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market22 Jan 2029
Raúl Sánchez hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Getafe can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
Petterson: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Getafe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match20 Jan 2029
5 matches without a goal for Getafe
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Juanmi out for 74 days
The medical room confirms 74 days on the sidelines for Juanmi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Getafe can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Getafe
Djéné Dakonam and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Unionistas have kept their man, and Getafe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Getafe
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Juanmi
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Getafe
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Sep 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market25 Sep 2028
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Getafe
Abdelkabir Abqar and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match23 Sep 2028
A bad afternoon for Getafe against Cádiz
0‑1 to Cádiz, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Getafe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lars-Jørgen Salvesen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Too much change too quickly at Getafe
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
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 0‑1 Luka Marín left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Jack Shorrock
“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.
In brief
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The dugout
Juanmi asks for a word with the manager
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Looking ahead
Yvan Neyou faces his old club
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for Zaid Romero
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jul 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Getafe have gone to Celta 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 dugout10 Jul 2028
Raúl Sánchez: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Getafe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Getafe asked and Sabadell said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Jul 2028
The name of Yakiv Kinareikin has come up in conversations Getafe were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Getafe
Zaid Romero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 Jul 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Getafe will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Getafe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Fulham: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
$10.4M on the table at Celta. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market26 Jun 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Teruel have kept their man, and Getafe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
No deal for Jorge Moreno at that price
Getafe offered $1.2M; Cádiz 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Getafe
Nemanja Gudelj and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Raúl Sánchez and Getafe agree another 3 years.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Getafe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
No hiding place for Coba
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Coba, and the manager let it.
Market26 Jun 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abdelkabir Abqar signs something — a contract at Getafe or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Getafe people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Getafe asked and Celta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market19 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
$2.0M was the most the club would pay and Real Sociedad 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Getafe
Nemanja Gudelj 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 dugout19 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Coba 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Getafe bring in an old head
Raúl De Tomás is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jun 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Eibar had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Getafe have gone to Celta 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.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Getafe and Rayo Vallecano have settled on $500.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Valencia wanted more than $3.4M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
Getafe still without a manager
42 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Market12 Jun 2028
Borja Mayoral wants to know where this is going
“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 Getafe hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The offer went to Cádiz 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Getafe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jun 2028
The name of Zaid Romero has come up in conversations Getafe were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Getafe know it.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Getafe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Mar 2028
Huesca made Getafe work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Loan watch13 Mar 2028
12 clean sheets on loan for Jiří Letáček
29 appearances at ESTAC Troyes and the goals have stopped going in. Getafe lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Squad13 Mar 2028
David Soria makes it 25 clean sheets
25 shut-outs in 445 appearances. A keeper’s career is counted in games where nothing happened, and none of it happened by accident.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Getafe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Coba 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 ratings13 Mar 2028
A mark of 7.99, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Johan Mojica beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
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.
Match19 Feb 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Getafe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Jorge Ortega to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
No hiding place for Coba
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Coba, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Nobody could get near Roy Revivo
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market21 Feb 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Abdelkabir Abqar may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The plan did not have a place for Raúl Sánchez
Nobody at Getafe 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.
Loan watch21 Feb 2028
28 starts now, an average of 6.66, and the team sheet at Farul Constanța has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Getafe may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Getafe
Ramón Terrats 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Getafe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Álex Sancris 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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Getafe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
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.” Jorge Ortega chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Nobody could get near Yvan Neyou
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match27 Nov 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Gijón will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead29 Nov 2027
Hércules next, and one man in the Getafe dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Djéné Dakonam pops up at the right end — 7.64
7.64, 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Getafe
Johan Mojica 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Getafe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A mistake David Soria will not forget
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Raúl Sánchez
“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 dugout22 Nov 2027
A promise honoured at Getafe
Something was said to Coba and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Getafe, and both men came out saying it was fine.