47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Vizela spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nuno Félix 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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
6 goals in one match, Gabriel Souza on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Chaves and Tondela.
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Robyn Esajas 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.
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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 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 Chaves know 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 Chaves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Portimonense in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nobody at Chaves will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.53, and 2 involvements.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Chaves and Maritimo, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. João Valido knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robyn Esajas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chaves can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chaves has been clear about where Ni Rodrigues stands, which is more than many ever get.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
1 for Lima, marked 7.60, 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 Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 3‑1 win over Sporting CP B, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabriel Souza 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.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Ronaldo Tavares in the middle of it, and Sporting CP B unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robyn Esajas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Rodrigo Marques on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaves may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Chaves 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.
João Valido and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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 will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ronaldo Tavares’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Chaves needing him to play as if none of it matters.
37 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Fortaleza keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Djibril Soumaré 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chaves can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Leixões next, and one man in the Chaves dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
$1.4M was the most the club would pay and Académico de Viseu 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.5M — a club that wants Rúben Pereira enough to be asked twice.
João Valido 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Chaves are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Lima is in the works
Chaves have gone to Académico de Viseu 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 fee is $480.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Famalicao drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
$400.0K was the most the club would pay and Gil Vicente 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves 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 Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chaves asked and São Paulo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I watch every Chaves game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Olympiakos Nicosia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Djibril Soumaré 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vitória have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and João Celeri 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 João Valido signs something — a contract at Chaves or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Chaves have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chaves. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Chaves and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on João Valido
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Rodrigo Marques 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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $450.0K — a club that wants Eboué Kouassi enough to be asked twice.
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Chaves will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Benfica 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. João Pedro has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chaves has been clear about where Ktatau stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chaves, another week without a signature from Nuninho.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chaves can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaves is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer went to Benfica 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.
João Valido 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard 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 Chaves, another week without a signature from Vítor Gonçalves.
Richard 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Robyn Esajas 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Chaves has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chaves. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robyn Esajas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Chaves will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vítor Gonçalves trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Brice Eboudjé is on it.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Vítor Gonçalves.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Chaves dressing room in a hurry
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chaves can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Rodrigo Marques left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
Player ratingsRobyn Esajas beats them one at a time
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robyn Esajas 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and João Valido trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
1 for Demir Ege Tıknaz, marked 7.92, 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.
João Valido 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.
6 goals in one match, Demir Ege Tıknaz on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Chaves and Benfica B.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting João Valido'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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Demir Ege Tıknaz 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.
Marked 8.15 — 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 ratings5 Apr 2027
João Lucas was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaves they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Robyn Esajas 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.
“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 Chaves know 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 Chaves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Chaves will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nuninho’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Chaves needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
The dugoutBrice Eboudjé has become a man the manager trusts
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.
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.
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.
Matheus Emiliano 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It needed Vítor Gonçalves to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Académico de Viseu, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
A 2‑1 win over Lusitânia Lourosa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
At 22 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Robyn Esajas 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. João Valido will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Three points for Chaves, 1‑0 the final word against Oliveirense in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Robyn Esajas 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Chaves pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chaves, another week without a signature from Vítor Gonçalves.
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 Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kiko Pereira 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 Chaves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Rodrigo Marques chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Aguilas Doradas is saying, and nobody at Chaves is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Venezia have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaves can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. João Valido will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaves the goodbyes have quietly begun.
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Chaves close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. João Valido has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Chaves asked and Avellino 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 phone has started ringing about Marko Gudžulić again, and this time the name on the line is Radnik Surdulica. Chaves are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chaves have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 22 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.
Felgueiras made Chaves work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Robyn Esajas 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.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chaves can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
João Valido 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lusitânia Lourosa have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The offer from Feirense for João Valido 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.
“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 Chaves, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robyn Esajas 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 Chaves, another week without a signature from João Valido.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Rodrigo Marques left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
Pedro Pelágio 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.
Half the programme played, position 14, 19 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
In brief
The dugoutNuninho left out for tactical reasons at Chaves
Two goals and a mark of 8.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
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.” Rodrigo Marques chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vítor Gonçalves trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Successful dribbles: 11. 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.
In brief
MarketThe clock does João Valido’s negotiating for him
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Chaves, and 1 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
João Lucas was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Gabriel Souza, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.66
A mark of 7.66 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Richard 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.
It needed Gabriel Souza to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Pacos de Ferreira, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Rodrigo Marques was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Chaves dressing room was either.
6 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Pacos de Ferreira in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Chaves would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Somebody from Vitoria Guimaraes has seen every one of João Valido’s last few games. Nobody travels that far that often out of curiosity, and everybody at Chaves knows it.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Richard was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Rodrigo Marques to a room that had heard them before.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaves, and both men came out saying it was fine.
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Rodrigo Marques to a room that had heard them before.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Gabriel Souza
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gabriel Souza has come out of that comparison in the side, and Chaves have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nuninho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Richard was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑4 Rodrigo Marques left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guilherme Silva was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
99 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chaves lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1 for Brice Eboudjé, marked 7.31, 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.
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.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Rodrigo Marques was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Chaves dressing room was either.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Chaves have done the hard part with Gil Vicente, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 24 arrived, 31 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Flamengo is saying, and nobody at Chaves is enjoying the guessing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Grêmio have kept their man, and Chaves go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chaves, another week without a signature from João Valido.
Squad7 Sep 2026
18 new faces, and Chaves are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Chaves are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
SquadGuilherme Silva falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The chase for Ni Rodrigues ended with $2.8M changing hands and Estrela da Amadora out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Everything agreed with Flamengo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard 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.
Chaves asked and Bragantino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rodrigo Melro 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.
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chaves lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Arouca for João Teixeira 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. João Celeri has, at Chaves, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: AZ keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
João Valido 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Pinto is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nuninho is living that version at Chaves, and it tends to show in the first 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 Chaves this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” André Rodrigues and Chaves agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Chaves training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Melro 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.