Marked for Ignacio Neira
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
“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.
Market8 May 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market8 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Iglesias will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Albion the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Román Gutiérrez and Albion agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 May 2028
“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.
Loan watch8 May 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Albion, and 4 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Albion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match11 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Albion's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Albion has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Agustín Pereira commits to Albion for another 4 years.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Albion
Mateo Telechea 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.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Renzo Barbieri
“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.
Loan watch13 Mar 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Albion, and 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Match11 Mar 2028
It needed Carlos Airala to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Juventud, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Feb 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A one-man rearguard from Danilo Lerda
There were 7 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
Renzo Barbieri has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Albion they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Juan Díaz gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ignacio Neira and Albion agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market21 Feb 2028
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Albion may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Briam Acosta
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Albion
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Albion is running low.
Market29 Nov 2027
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Albion
Carlos Airala 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Oct 2027
Andrés Romero 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 Albion can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Lucas Cuffia
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 May 2027
“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 Albion, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Álvaro López. 2‑1 against Progreso, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings17 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Marked 8.52 — 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.
Squad17 May 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Albion lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Feb 2027
83 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The manager plants his flag on Álvaro López
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Álvaro López’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.