Marked for Kevin Sequera
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Mar 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Deportivo Miranda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom12 Mar 2029
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match10 Mar 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Deportivo Miranda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. José Dario Ascanio 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Miranda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luciano Montaos, and the manager let it.
Market12 Mar 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Deportivo Miranda, another week without a signature from Santiago Rodríguez.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“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.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Matías Moreno knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Deportivo Miranda, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportivo Miranda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Santiago Rodríguez has agreed terms with Caracas for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad5 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Miranda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kevin Sequera commits to Deportivo Miranda for another 3 years.
Loan watch5 Mar 2029
“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 Deportivo Miranda, and 0 appearances in 8 say he has earned the hearing.
Match3 Mar 2029
0‑1 to Aragua, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Deportivo Miranda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julio Ruíz 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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
8 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Héroes de Falcón waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Barquisimeto is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market27 Dec 2027
“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.
Market27 Dec 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barquisimeto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Dec 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 Barquisimeto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Barquisimeto now.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Barquisimeto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Linarez 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 targets27 Dec 2027
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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
101% of the income goes out in wages at Barquisimeto
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Franger Urbaneja has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Barquisimeto 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Portuguesa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Barquisimeto is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Carlos Gil honoured for the season
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Barquisimeto had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market20 Dec 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 Barquisimeto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market20 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Jean Lossada
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jean Lossada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barquisimeto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Jayson Martínez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Ignacio Anzola 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.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Envigado have kept their man, and Barquisimeto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Aaron Rodríguez
“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.
Transfer targets20 Dec 2027
A loan move for Thomas Riveros is in the works
Barquisimeto have made the call to Monagas. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Barquisimeto can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
The paperwork begins on Luis Jara
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Barquisimeto have done the hard part with Mineros de Guayana, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Daniel Linarez 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Ignacio Anzola 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.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
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 dugout6 Dec 2027
“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.
Market6 Dec 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kevin Sequera has his answer from Barquisimeto; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
Envigado have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Rafael Montaña asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 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 Barquisimeto, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Luis Martell faces a manager he fell out with
They have worked together before and it did not end well. Nobody at Barquisimeto expects the new manager to have forgotten, least of all Luis Martell.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Daniel Linarez 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Barquisimeto now.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignacio Anzola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages swallow 154% of the Barquisimeto income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aaron Rodríguez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.