Max Svensson

Attacking Midfielder (R) - AVS
12 Feb 2031
Wednesday
Process

Marked for Max Svensson

237 Edition

The AVS Gazette

10 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

AVS throw away a 2-goal lead

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

Market

Kiki Afonso 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 AVS can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Rodrigo Barbosa: 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.” AVS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Transfer targets

Rudi Almeida stays at Leiria as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. AVS will try again when the window opens; Leiria may not be selling by then.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Max Svensson 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

AVS come up short against Estoril Praia

Estoril Praia left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Transfer targets

AVS rebuffed over Pascal Struijk

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Manchester United have kept their man, and AVS go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Gonzalo Quinteros 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 ratings

One of those days for Max Svensson

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

Back issues
236 Edition

The AVS Gazette

3 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Max Svensson runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Gonzalo Quinteros 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 AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Chuchu Ramírez is carrying AVS

18 goals and a season average of 7.54. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Market

Tomé Sousa says no to Leiria

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Tomé Sousa had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Player ratings

Chuchu Ramírez, 33, rolls back the years — 8.19

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.19 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Transfer targets

Rudi Almeida is a medical away from AVS

The deal with Leiria is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.

The dugout

Nasser Nasser says AVS 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.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 2 signed and 5 gone

That is the business done at AVS until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Market

Valente Pierani 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 AVS hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

In brief

  • Squad Max Svensson signs on for more
  • Match Nobody wants to play AVS right now
  • Squad A falling-out at AVS
235 Edition

The AVS Gazette

27 Jan 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Gonzalo Quinteros out for 15 days

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

Market

Chuchu Ramírez puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

RC Strasbourg come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and AVS did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Chuchu Ramírez yet — 8.84

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Chuchu Ramírez is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.52 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

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

Transfer targets

AVS rebuffed over Dan Ballard

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barcelona have kept their man, and AVS go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Chuchu Ramírez sends AVS past Arouca

It finished 2‑0, and it was Chuchu Ramírez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AVS.

In brief

234 Edition

The AVS Gazette

20 Jan 2031
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Gonzalo Quinteros

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

Match

Max Svensson leads the rout of Gil Vicente

4‑0, and Max Svensson took the headlines on an afternoon when everything AVS tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Chuchu Ramírez, 33, rolls back the years — 9.29

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.29 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Rémi Himbert

18 goals and a season average of 7.41 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Market

Gabriel Melo puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Igor Zubeldia

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AVS have done the hard part with Real Sociedad, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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

Kevin Medina gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kevin Medina has just signed for AVS, and for once the answer mattered.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Pedro Mendes

AVS asked and Bologna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

233 Edition

The AVS Gazette

13 Jan 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Gonzalo Quinteros out for 29 days

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

Market

Matheus Sampaio 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 AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Rémi Himbert is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.38 with 17 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

4 matches without a win for AVS

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around AVS are no longer polite ones.

Transfer targets

Estrela da Amadora tell AVS: Martim Dias 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.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Rémi Himbert runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Match

Braga take the points off AVS

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

227 Edition

The AVS Gazette

2 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Chuchu Ramírez

12 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andre Green 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

AVS come up short against Porto

Porto left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Torben Bos wants to go home

“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 AVS know it.

The dugout

Interim Coach faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Market

Still no ink between AVS and Max Svensson

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AVS, another week without a signature from Max Svensson.

The dugout

Vitaly Shitov 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 dugout

AVS pick somebody else ahead of Nampalys Mendy

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.

In brief

225 Edition

The AVS Gazette

18 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

AVS make home a hard place to visit

10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Valente Pierani 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.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

Rémi Himbert is carrying AVS

12 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.36. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Rémi Himbert was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.31. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Match

AVS rescue it on 98 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 98. Sporting CP had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Match

AVS and Sporting CP take a point apiece

It finished 4‑4, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nampalys Mendy

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

In brief

222 Edition

The AVS Gazette

28 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

28 days out for Kiki Afonso after a fracture

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

Market

Matheus Sampaio puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Valente Pierani wants European nights

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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

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

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Chuchu Ramírez

9 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Roni — 7.29

A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 7.29, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

The dugout

The manager has not finished forgetting Max Svensson's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Market

Kauã Alves told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Kauã Alves has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at AVS.

In brief

221 Edition

The AVS Gazette

21 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nasser Nasser

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

Squad

A fracture rules Kiki Afonso out for 35 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AVS will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

Lucas Rodríguez: 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.” AVS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Match

AVS see off Torreense

Three points for AVS, 3‑2 the final word against Torreense in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Player ratings

One of those days for Chuchu Ramírez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.66, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

AVS make home a hard place to visit

8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jorge Meireles

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

220 Edition

The AVS Gazette

14 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nasser Nasser damages knee ligaments — 22 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.

Squad

42 days out for Kiki Afonso after a fracture

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

Player ratings

Both of them Rémi Himbert's — 8.44

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

The dugout

Gabriel Melo says AVS 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.

Squad

Valente Pierani 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Boardroom

AVS beat the market to David Nogueira from Estoril Praia

Estoril Praia will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. David Nogueira has pre-agreed a move to AVS, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

The dugout

No hiding place for Alaa Bellaarouch

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

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Max Svensson at his very best

Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

202 Edition

The AVS Gazette

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

AVS baulk at the price for Midana Cassamá

Chaves wanted more than $1.3M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Market

José Cesarini has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AVS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Victor Froholdt rejects the move

AVS had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Porto, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Boardroom

José Cesarini signs for Famalicao while still at AVS

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. José Cesarini has agreed terms with Famalicao for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Transfer targets

AVS bid $280.0K for Gonçalo Maia

The offer went to Farense 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.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ignace Van Der Brempt

AVS asked and Porto 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 dugout

Rémi Himbert 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

192 Edition

The AVS Gazette

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the AVS boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Match

AVS finish in position 8

48 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.

Squad

A day Max Svensson will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Market

Lucas Henrique puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Lucas Rodríguez keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Max Svensson is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.43 with 13 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Match

6 goals as AVS and Benfica go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between AVS and Benfica, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Match

AVS see off Benfica

Three points for AVS, 4‑2 the final word against Benfica in a contest settled by the finer margins.

In brief

191 Edition

The AVS Gazette

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at AVS spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

The dugout

Nasser Nasser says AVS 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.

Market

Chris Martínez is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

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

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Sporting CP

1‑2 to Sporting CP, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alaa Bellaarouch

“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

Interim Coach faces the questions

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

The dugout

Rodrigo Pinho left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Rodrigo Pinho will call it something else in private.

In brief

190 Edition

The AVS Gazette

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Samuel Tengoh keeps the receipts

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

Match

Nobody wants to play AVS right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

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

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

10 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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.

Match

Max Svensson the difference as AVS beat Rio Ave

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Max Svensson. 2‑1 against Rio Ave, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Max Svensson at his very best

Marked 8.25. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

The dugout

A promise honoured at AVS

Something was said to Boulaye Dia and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

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.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

187 Edition

The AVS Gazette

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at AVS 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

7 matches without a win for AVS

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around AVS are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Alaa Bellaarouch keeps AVS in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Only the photograph left for Chris Martínez

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Chris Martínez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AVS the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Chris Martínez has agreed to leave AVS for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Andre Green 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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

Famalicao take the points off AVS

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

In brief

186 Edition

The AVS Gazette

18 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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.

Boardroom

AVS beat the market to Zalnando from Penafiel

Penafiel will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Zalnando has pre-agreed a move to AVS, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Transfer targets

Atlético Madrid tell AVS: Clément Lenglet 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.

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

9 goals and a season average of 7.38. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Chuchu Ramírez

Marked 8.14 — 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 Jorge Aguirre

“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.

Market

Matheus Sampaio 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 AVS can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

In brief

183 Edition

The AVS Gazette

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Supporters organise against the AVS 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.

Market

Andre Green puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Max Svensson runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Transfer targets

Stade Brestois tell AVS: Arnaud Bodart 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Braga

0‑1 to Braga, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

200 appearances for Jorge Aguirre

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

The dugout

Interim Coach faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

182 Edition

The AVS Gazette

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

7 saves: Alaa Bellaarouch was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Chris Martínez puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jon Moncayola

AVS asked and Porto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Max Svensson is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.37 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Vitoria Guimaraes take the points off AVS

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jorge Aguirre

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

Squad

Felix Onana signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Felix Onana commits to AVS for another 4 years.

In brief

181 Edition

The AVS Gazette

14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 40. 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.

Market

Sebastian Jensen has said yes to Wadi Degla

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AVS have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

AVS say no — this time

The offer from Las Palmas for Raúl Alcaina 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.

Market

Sebastian Jensen puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Alexander Sørloth

AVS asked and Atlético Madrid said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Andre Green is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AVS has been clear about where Andre Green stands, which is more than many ever get.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Andre Green

Marked 8.01 — 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.

In brief

180 Edition

The AVS Gazette

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Koba Koindredi wins it after the whistle should have gone

93 minutes played. Koba Koindredi found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Moreirense went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at AVS

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

José Cesarini 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 AVS can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Sebastian Jensen keeps the receipts

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

Squad

AVS lose Kiki Afonso

65 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Match

Nobody wants to play AVS right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Market

Persijap watching Tomé Sousa

The interest is real enough to have reached print. AVS have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

In brief

179 Edition

The AVS Gazette

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at AVS 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.

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 34. 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

Tempers go at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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

Kiki Afonso 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.

Match

AVS find a way past Alverca

Alverca made AVS work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Andre Green at his very best

Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

Player ratings

Chuchu Ramírez in the eights

A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

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.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Matheus Sampaio

“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

178 Edition

The AVS Gazette

24 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Raul Steffens asks to leave AVS

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS

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

Match

Chuchu Ramírez sends AVS past Torreense

It finished 2‑1, and it was Chuchu Ramírez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AVS.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Max Svensson

9 goals and a season average of 7.35 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The dugout

No hiding place for Rodrigo Pinho

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

Match

At last: AVS win one

5 matches without a win, and then this, against Torreense. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Max Svensson

Marked 8.55 — 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Chuchu Ramírez at his very best

Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

177 Edition

The AVS Gazette

17 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for AVS

5 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.

The dugout

Lucas Rodríguez says AVS 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Rodrigo Pinho 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Match

A bad afternoon for AVS against Arouca

1‑3 to Arouca, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

8 goals and a season average of 7.31. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Chuchu Ramírez at his very best

Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

Player ratings

One of those days for Max Svensson

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Nuno Semedo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nuno Semedo and AVS agree another 3 years.

In brief

176 Edition

The AVS Gazette

10 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Alaa Bellaarouch keeps AVS in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Tiago Galletto 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 AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to AVS's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AVS has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Kiki Afonso 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.

Match

Porto take the points off AVS

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Nuno Semedo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nuno Semedo and AVS agree another 3 years.

The dugout

Interim Coach faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

AVS keep their word to Diogo Brasido

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

In brief

175 Edition

The AVS Gazette

3 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Nikolas Panagiotou damages knee ligaments — 22 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 22 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 terraces

Supporters organise against the AVS 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.

Market

José Cesarini puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Andre Green 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

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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

A bad afternoon for AVS against Benfica

0‑1 to Benfica, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Appearance number 200 for Max Svensson

200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.

Match

AVS at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 9, 24 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

The dugout

Interim Coach: “No excuses”

“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.

In brief

174 Edition

The AVS Gazette

26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolas Panagiotou

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

Squad

9 saves: Alaa Bellaarouch was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Raul Steffens puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

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

Match

Max Svensson among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Max Svensson on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of AVS and Sporting CP.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Chuchu Ramírez at his very best

Marked 8.57. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

Match

Nobody wins at AVS

8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Player ratings

Max Svensson in the eights

A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

173 Edition

The AVS Gazette

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolas Panagiotou

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

The dugout

José Cesarini: 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.” AVS have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at AVS

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

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiki Afonso 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at AVS

5 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 dugout

The form table has caught Rodrigo Pinho

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

Interim Coach on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Roni

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

In brief

171 Edition

The AVS Gazette

5 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Kiki Afonso

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

The terraces

Anger at AVS spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

The small margins put AVS out

Out, 0‑2 to Vitoria Guimaraes, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Market

Sebastian Jensen asks to leave AVS

“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.

Squad

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Koba Koindredi 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

AVS come up short against Estoril Praia

Estoril Praia left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Pinho

“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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Max Svensson at his very best

Marked 8.66. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

170 Edition

The AVS Gazette

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Kiki Afonso damages knee ligaments — 24 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 24 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

Raul Steffens puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AVS, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Miracle Adewole keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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.

Squad

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alaa Bellaarouch 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

AVS find a way past Famalicao

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

Squad

Goal number 50 for Max Svensson

50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Max Svensson

Marked 8.31 — 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

Somebody else is better right now than Rodrigo Pinho

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

169 Edition

The AVS Gazette

22 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Kiki Afonso out for 33 days

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

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Max Svensson

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

José Cesarini 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 AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Match

AVS get the job done against Casa Pia

A 2‑0 win over Casa Pia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Chuchu Ramírez

Marked 8.26 — 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.

Player ratings

Koba Koindredi was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at AVS

6 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.

In brief

167 Edition

The AVS Gazette

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Kiki Afonso damages knee ligaments — 49 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 49 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 terraces

Supporters organise against the AVS 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.

The dugout

Chris Martínez says AVS 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Chuchu Ramírez

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at AVS

Koba Koindredi 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

Words at AVS training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alaa Bellaarouch 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.

Boardroom

Isac will join AVS for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Isac has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means AVS have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Match

Max Svensson the difference as AVS beat Gil Vicente

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Max Svensson. 1‑0 against Gil Vicente, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Max Svensson at his very best

Marked 8.47. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at AVS.

In brief

165 Edition

The AVS Gazette

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Kiki Afonso damages knee ligaments — 64 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.

Squad

25 days out for Jorge Aguirre after a fracture

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

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alaa Bellaarouch

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

A brace, and Max Svensson takes the afternoon — 8.64

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Max Svensson provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Eduardo Teixeira has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AVS they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The dugout

Alyson says AVS 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Match

Max Svensson sends AVS past Vitoria Guimaraes

It finished 2‑0, and it was Max Svensson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to AVS.

The dugout

The form table has caught Rodrigo Pinho

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.

In brief

164 Edition

The AVS Gazette

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Kiki Afonso

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

Player ratings

Max Svensson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 39. 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.

Boardroom

AVS give the job to Interim Coach

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.

Squad

A fracture rules Jorge Aguirre out for 32 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AVS will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Koba Koindredi 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A late step up for Kiki Afonso

At 35 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Transfer targets

Aston Villa tell AVS: Ryan Christie 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.

The dugout

Rodrigo Pinho 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 dugout

AVS pick somebody else ahead of Rodrigo Pinho

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.

In brief

  • The dugout Interim Coach: “We have to be better”
  • Match Point won or two lost for AVS?
  • Market The Roni story refuses to die
163 Edition

The AVS Gazette

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Kiki Afonso

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

The terraces

Anger at AVS spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

39 days out for Jorge Aguirre after a fracture

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

The dugout

Nuno Semedo keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Rodrigo Pinho 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The drought breaks for AVS

6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Moreirense were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Transfer targets

Porto tell AVS: Daniele Ghilardi 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.

Match

AVS find a way past Moreirense

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

In brief

140 Edition

The AVS Gazette

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the AVS boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Boardroom

AVS spell it out for Interim Coach

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Match

AVS are in real trouble now

Position 16, 32 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Raul Steffens 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 AVS can pretend not to have heard.

Match

The season ends: position 16 for AVS

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 32 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

Market

Carlos León is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AVS is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Rodrigo Pinho 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 AVS this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Max Svensson beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

In brief

138 Edition

The AVS Gazette

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Max Svensson scores twice — 8.48

Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Words exchanged at AVS

Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.

Squad

A row about effort at AVS

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

Match

Max Svensson the difference as AVS beat Vitoria Guimaraes

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Max Svensson. 2‑1 against Vitoria Guimaraes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Koba Koindredi did the work nobody counts — 7.15

12 combined actions and 7.15. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.

Squad

Max Svensson is carrying AVS

10 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

The dugout

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.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

No place for Tomé Sousa on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at AVS pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

The dugout

Louis Scherer 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