From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets21 Dec 2026
The deal with Colon 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Albion is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Felipe Agosto is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Albion
Agustín Vera 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Ginella, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The formation has left Alan Maimo behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Albion will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Agustín Pereira 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Andrés Romero'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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Dec 2026
Carlos Airala has left for Cerro Largo in a $450.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Vera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Dec 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Albion are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market14 Dec 2026
Albion have made Santiago Costa available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Agustín Vera gets picked when it counts
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 Agustín Vera is on it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Albion have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Dec 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Albion have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market7 Dec 2026
Albion say no — this time
The offer from Cerro Largo for Carlos Airala 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.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
Everything agreed with Central Espanol, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Baltasar Barcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Agustín Vera 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 Albion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
A loan enquiry to Atenas: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Open for business: Albion enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
The stands have heard the Carlos Airala talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Albion would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Albion
Santiago Costa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 141% of everything Albion earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Baltasar Barcia 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Albion
Federico Puente 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Vera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Andrés Romero'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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Albion
Federico Puente 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Baltasar Barcia 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Agustín Vera gets picked when it counts
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 Agustín Vera is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Albion
Tomás Moschion and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 141% of everything Albion earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Hernán Toledo slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Hernán Toledo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Vera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Agustín Pereira 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
Squad26 Oct 2026
Baltasar Barcia 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Albion
13 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Iker Zufiaurre has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Albion 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Albion. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Baltasar Barcia 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Albion
Agustín Vera 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Agustín Vera gets picked when it counts
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 Agustín Vera is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
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.
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 187% of the Albion 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Baltasar Barcia 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
Román Gutiérrez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Albion 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
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Albion
Federico Puente 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Pablo Lacoste 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Albion are still strangers to each other
13 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Iker Zufiaurre has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Albion 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Albion
Tomás Moschion 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agustín Vera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Agustín Vera gets picked when it counts
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 Agustín Vera is on it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Albion. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market21 Sep 2026
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Albion could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Francisco Ginella has agreed terms with Montevideo City Torque for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Albion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Baltasar Barcia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Albion lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Baltasar Barcia 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Agustín Pereira
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Agustín Pereira has come out of that comparison in the side, and Albion have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Albion, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Albion lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
River Plate will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nicolás dos Santos has pre-agreed a move to Albion, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Agustín 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
13 new faces, and Albion 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Joaquín Ferreira and Albion agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Albion lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Baltasar Barcia 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Albion
Santiago Costa 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Carlos Airala 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clock does Francisco Ginella’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Albion could ask drops and the wages Francisco Ginella can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Albion lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Albion
2‑3 against La Luz, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Baltasar Barcia 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Tacuarembo will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ezequiel Silveira has pre-agreed a move to Albion, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Albion
Federico Puente and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
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.
Match15 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Lucas Rodríguez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Albion.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.05 — 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.16, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Baltasar Barcia 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Three points for Albion, 3‑1 the final word against Tacuarembo in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Albion
Federico Puente 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Lucas 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Rodrigo Santos has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Santiago Perez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” José Álvarez and Albion agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Albion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Baltasar Barcia 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
Nobody at Albion has picked up the phone to José Álvarez
36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Albion
12 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 dugout3 Aug 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Jorge Barrios to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
4.73. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.