The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
1 for Jalen Neal, marked 7.73, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Philadelphia Union left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Vera 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.
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, 6.86, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Brayan Vera 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.
Position 10, 19 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ryan Zardes after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.96, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ezekiel Kwame Alladoh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“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 dugout18 Jun 2029
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.” Ryan Zardes kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Vera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at CF Montreal can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Vera 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 dugout4 Jun 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Jalen Neal'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.
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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Dagur Dan Þórhallsson's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
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 dugout4 Jun 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.” Ryan Zardes chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and New York Red Bulls had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and CF Montreal did not stop to explain themselves.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Caden Clark. 2‑1 against New York Red Bulls, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Vera 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 CF Montreal know it.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
CF Montreal asked and Alianza Petrolera said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brayan Vera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout14 May 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ryan Zardes was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the CF Montreal dressing room was either.
“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.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” CF Montreal have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
CF Montreal ran out of time with San Diego Football Club. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Marked 7.22 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Vera 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Luca Petrasso is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CF Montreal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Trey Muse: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
CF Montreal and FC Dallas have settled on $170.0K. 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.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Up for the corner, and Luca Petrasso delivers — 7.68
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Luca Petrasso scored, was marked 7.68, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando City have kept their man, and CF Montreal go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ezekiel Kwame Alladoh. 1‑0 against Chicago Fire, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
SquadBrayan Vera falls out with a teammate over standards
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Cristian Correa at his very best
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
St. Louis CITY SC paid $1.8M and CF Montreal took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Chris Mueller 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.
CF Montreal offered $190.0K; Orlando City 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brayan Vera 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ezekiel Kwame Alladoh is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Ryan Zardes has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Chris Mueller 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dante Sealy 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.
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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Dagur Dan Þórhallsson's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
In brief
The dugoutBrandan Craig knocks on the manager’s door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dante Sealy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Noel Buck trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sebastian Breza signs something — a contract at CF Montreal or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at CF Montreal would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at CF Montreal that is a harder question to answer.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ezekiel Kwame Alladoh may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
$7.0M on the table at New York City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The shirt still fits. Caden Clark is back at CF Montreal, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
CF Montreal asked and Philadelphia Union said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$850.0K was the most the club would pay and New York City 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.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Nashville SC were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at CF Montreal this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at CF Montreal can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CF Montreal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Seattle Sounders have accepted the money. What CF Montreal do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what CF Montreal can pretend not to have heard.
6 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 number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $170.6K — a club that wants Sam Rogers enough to be asked twice.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CF Montreal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Toronto FC is saying, and nobody at CF Montreal is enjoying the guessing.
The fee is $1.6M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Philadelphia Union drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The fee is $560.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Minnesota United FC drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
CF Montreal have gone to Real Salt Lake 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. CF Montreal will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
CF Montreal asked and Atlanta United FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. CF Montreal will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 CF Montreal, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dante Sealy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at CF Montreal, another week without a signature from Matty Longstaff.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and CF Montreal have no good answer.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. CF Montreal know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Noah Streit
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
“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 CF Montreal know it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matty Longstaff 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at CF Montreal, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Dagur Dan Þórhallsson 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Boston Billups has just signed for CF Montreal, and for once the answer mattered.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and FC Cincinnati were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
FC Cincinnati made CF Montreal work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at CF Montreal training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matty Longstaff 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Michael Pepi could afford to be generous.