Barranquilla U20

21 Nov 2030
Thursday
Process
225 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

18 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

José Quevedo 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

Jhoynner Lozano has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Barranquilla 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.

Market

The clock does Jhoynner Lozano’s negotiating for him

1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Barranquilla could ask drops and the wages Jhoynner Lozano can ask rise.

The dugout

Phillippe Oviedo 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Boardroom

Barranquilla keep producing them

52 graduates from an academy now rated 9 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.

In brief

Back issues
224 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

11 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhoynner Lozano

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhoynner Lozano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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 dugout

Fabián Correa 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leyner Liñan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes Juan Camilo Chala a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Barranquilla. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Market

Barranquilla and Carlos Rodríguez are talking past each other

“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.

In brief

223 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

4 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ebaldo Pérez breaks a bone — 19 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

Squad

Kevin Parra is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kevin Parra has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

Market

No place for Alexander Riascos in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alexander Riascos has his answer from Barranquilla; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

The dugout

Fabián Correa 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.

In brief

222 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

28 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Ebaldo Pérez out for 26 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

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Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Alexander Riascos 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Howell Mena placed on the list

Barranquilla have made Howell Mena available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

The dugout

Alexander Riascos 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.

In brief

221 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

21 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Ebaldo Pérez out for 33 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Fabián Correa 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 dugout

No hiding place for Juan Camilo Chala

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Chala, and the manager let it.

Squad

Leyner Liñan 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.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Barranquilla 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.

Market

Still no signature from Jhoynner Lozano

2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Barranquilla could get for him.

In brief

220 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

14 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Ebaldo Pérez out for 40 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Howell Mena 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhoynner Lozano

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhoynner Lozano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

José Quevedo 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Howell Mena keeps his manager's vote

The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Howell Mena plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.

In brief

219 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

7 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Ebaldo Pérez out for 47 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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 dugout

No hiding place for José Quevedo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to José Quevedo, and the manager let it.

In brief

218 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

30 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ebaldo Pérez breaks a bone — 54 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

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Market

Cristian Bacca asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

José Quevedo 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jhon Cortez

“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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leyner Liñan 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.

In brief

217 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

23 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Ebaldo Pérez out for 61 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

Bréiner Pino 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.

The dugout

When it matters, Jhoynner Lozano plays

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 dugout

Fabián Correa 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

216 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

16 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Howell Mena puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhoynner Lozano

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhoynner Lozano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Carlos 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.

The dugout

Fabián Correa 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.

Market

Barranquilla and Carlos Rodríguez are talking past each other

“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 dugout

The manager plants his flag on Howell Mena

“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Howell Mena’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.

Match

A season winding down at Barranquilla

Position 7, 30 points, safe from one end and out of reach of the other. The last weeks are about next season now, and the team sheet has started saying so.

In brief

215 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

9 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jhoynner Lozano asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

Yeferson Moreno stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Yeferson Moreno and Barranquilla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Alexander Riascos 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.

Squad

Leyner Liñan 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.

Market

Still no ink between Barranquilla and Juan Diego Verdeza

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Barranquilla, another week without a signature from Juan Diego Verdeza.

The dugout

Juan Diego Verdeza knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Diego Verdeza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

214 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

2 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

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Market

Cristian Bacca 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Yeferson Moreno signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yeferson Moreno and Barranquilla agree another 4 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Ebaldo Pérez 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Juan Camilo Chala

“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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

In brief

213 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

26 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

José Quevedo 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.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jhon Cortez

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Juan Camilo Chala 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 dugout

When it matters, Jhoynner Lozano plays

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.

Market

Still no signature from Jhoynner Lozano

4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Barranquilla could get for him.

In brief

212 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

19 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Howell Mena puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Jhoynner Lozano is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leyner Liñan 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 dugout

Juan Camilo Chala knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Camilo Chala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

José Quevedo is not doing himself any favours

A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.

In brief

211 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

12 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

José Quevedo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

A stepping stone, not a home, for José Quevedo

He is doing his job and he is not settling. Barranquilla were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of José Quevedo

“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.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

Market

Jhon Cortez is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Barranquilla has been clear about where Jhon Cortez stands, which is more than many ever get.

The dugout

The manager makes Juan Camilo Chala a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Barranquilla. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Market

Talks stall between Barranquilla and Juan Diego Verdeza

“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 dugout

Phillippe Oviedo 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.

In brief

210 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

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Market

Cristian Bacca asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Transfer targets

Barranquilla rebuffed over Lautaro Belleggia

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Millonarios have kept their man, and Barranquilla go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Parra 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.

Market

One of our own: Juan Muriel joins the Barranquilla first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Juan Muriel is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Barranquilla promote Sebastian Ramirez from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sebastian Ramirez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Barranquilla promote Sergio Garcia from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sergio Garcia has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Fabián Correa

“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.

In brief

209 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

29 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Guerra 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 targets

Cristian Quiñónes stays at Tigres as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Barranquilla will try again when the window opens; Tigres may not be selling by then.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sebastián Caballero

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Jhoynner Lozano is on it.

The dugout

Fabián Correa knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Fabián Correa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The clock does Jhoynner Lozano’s negotiating for him

5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Barranquilla could ask drops and the wages Jhoynner Lozano can ask rise.

In brief

208 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

22 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Howell Mena 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Jhoynner Lozano is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Transfer targets

$100.0K settles it between the clubs for Cristian Quiñónes

Tigres have accepted the money. What Barranquilla do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 4 signed and 6 gone

That is the business done at Barranquilla 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.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Lautaro Belleggia rejects the move

Barranquilla had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Millonarios, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

Sebastián Caballero knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastián Caballero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The market said no: Bryan Padilla stays put

Barranquilla opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Bryan Padilla stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.

In brief

207 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

15 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sebastián Guerra has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Cristian Quiñónes will not be coming to Barranquilla

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Tigres is saying, and nobody at Barranquilla is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Ebaldo Pérez 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 dugout

Alberto Higgins 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

206 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

8 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jhoynner Lozano agrees terms with La Equidad

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Barranquilla people have started saying his name in the past tense.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Jáder Obrian will not be coming to Barranquilla

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Santa Fe is saying, and nobody at Barranquilla is enjoying the guessing.

Boardroom

Sebastián Guerra has agreed to leave Barranquilla for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Transfer targets

Millonarios tell Barranquilla: Lautaro Belleggia is not for sale

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.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Boardroom

Barranquilla sign 9 boys into the academy

None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.

Squad

Jhon Navia named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jhon Navia is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

In brief

205 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

1 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

La Equidad are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Barranquilla will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Sebastián Guerra

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Barranquilla told Sebastián Guerra something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout

Juan Camilo Chala knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Camilo Chala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

When it matters, Jhoynner Lozano plays

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.

Squad

Richard Ramazanov is a square peg at Barranquilla

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Squad

Andres Sanchez still has not settled

A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Barranquilla would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.

In brief

204 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

24 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Full time on the season at Barranquilla

Position 7 on 30 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Squad

A move Kevin Parra would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kevin Parra is living that version at Barranquilla, and it tends to show in the first month.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Henrique Costa’s move to Barranquilla collapses on the table

Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to La Equidad; Barranquilla go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Lautaro Belleggia rejects the move

Barranquilla had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Millonarios, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Market

Cristian Bacca asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

Daniel Castillo signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniel Castillo and Barranquilla agree another 3 years.

Boardroom

Barranquilla agree a free transfer for Sebastian Lopez

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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.

In brief

203 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

17 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

No mercy from Barranquilla

Tigres will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Barranquilla were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Market

Only the photograph left for Sebastián Guerra

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sebastián Guerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

3 goals for Jhoynner Lozano

The match ball belongs to Jhoynner Lozano, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Market

Jhoynner Lozano asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Jáder Obrian

Barranquilla and Santa Fe have settled on $140.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.

Transfer targets

Efraín Ustariz turns down Barranquilla

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Deportivo Pereira keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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 ratings

One of those days for Jhoynner Lozano

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.50, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Jhon Navia at his very best

Marked 8.36. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Barranquilla.

In brief

202 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Barranquilla agree $49.0K for Manuel Loaiza

The clubs have shaken hands with Deportivo Pereira; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Jáder Obrian will not be coming to Barranquilla

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Santa Fe is saying, and nobody at Barranquilla is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

A move Axel Muñoz would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Axel Muñoz is living that version at Barranquilla, and it tends to show in the first month.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sebastián Guerra

“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.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

201 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Howell Mena puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Market

Only the photograph left for Darwin Torres

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darwin Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

Barranquilla come up short against Fortaleza CEIF

Fortaleza CEIF left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

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 Mateo Rodriguez left the room before anybody could ask which.

Squad

Alexander Riascos 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Carlos Rodríguez

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Carlos Rodríguez has come out of that comparison in the side, and Barranquilla have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

200 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

27 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 33. 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.

Squad

6 saves: Sebastián Guerra was the team

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.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Match

Barranquilla come up short against Deportes Quindio

Deportes Quindio left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mateo Rodriguez after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad

Bréiner Pino 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.

Squad

A ban for Sebastián Caballero

One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Barranquilla lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.

Market

The clock does Sebastián Guerra’s negotiating for him

2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Barranquilla could ask drops and the wages Sebastián Guerra can ask rise.

In brief

199 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Barranquilla strike at the death to beat Bogota

There were 89 minutes on the clock and Bogota had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Barranquilla did not stop to explain themselves.

Player ratings

A brace, and Jhoynner Lozano takes the afternoon — 8.47

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jhoynner Lozano provided it, and the 8.47 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. 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.

Market

Rodrigo Mina asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Match

At last: Barranquilla win one

7 matches without a win, and then this, against Bogota. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Match

Barranquilla get the job done against Bogota

A 2‑1 win over Bogota, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Julian Murillo

At 16 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.

The dugout

Daniel Castillo 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.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Looking ahead Barranquilla take on the side everybody is chasing
198 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The small margins put Barranquilla out

Out, 0‑1 to Santa Fe, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Market

Only the photograph left for Sebastián Guerra

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sebastián Guerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Jhoynner Lozano asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Match

The wait goes on for Barranquilla

7 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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Sebastián Guerra

There were 6 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.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Jhon Navia runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Match

Barranquilla come up short against Universitario Popayan

Universitario Popayan left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

  • The dugout No hiding place for Sebastián Guerra
  • Squad Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
197 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Match

No end in sight to Barranquilla's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Barranquilla has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Barranquilla rescue it on 92 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Once Caldas had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Match

Barranquilla share the spoils with Once Caldas

A 1‑1 draw with Once Caldas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Mateo Rodriguez on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastián Guerra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

196 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

29 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

The knee: Bryan Padilla out for 19 days

19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Barranquilla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Match

4 matches without a win for Barranquilla

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Barranquilla are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The goals have deserted Barranquilla

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Barranquilla can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

No hiding place for Jhoynner Lozano

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhoynner Lozano, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mateo Rodriguez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Looking ahead

The leaders are next for Barranquilla

Once Caldas top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.

In brief

195 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

22 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Bryan Padilla damages knee ligaments — 26 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.

Market

Rodrigo Mina puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Howell Mena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Barranquilla against Union Magdalena

0‑1 to Union Magdalena, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

Howell Mena is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

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 Mateo Rodriguez to a room that had heard them before.

Player ratings

One moment undoes Howell Mena

There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.

In brief

194 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

15 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Bryan Padilla damages knee ligaments — 33 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.

Market

Sebastián Guerra has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 22. 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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Alexander Riascos 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 ratings

The afternoon belonged to Howell Mena

A mark of 7.36, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mateo Rodriguez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Match

Barranquilla draw a blank against Alianza Petrolera

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Alianza Petrolera defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

193 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

8 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Howell Mena puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Only the photograph left for Darwin Torres

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darwin Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Barranquilla lose Juan Camilo Chala

18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

Match

The half-term report on Barranquilla

Position 4, 20 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Match

Barranquilla and Depor take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

  • The dugout Jhon Cortez gets it from the manager
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout When it matters, Jhoynner Lozano plays
192 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

Barranquilla see off Tigres

Three points for Barranquilla, 1‑0 the final word against Tigres in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Daniel Castillo

7.95, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Barranquilla had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mateo Rodriguez, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

Howell Mena has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Barranquilla 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.

Market

No place for Sebastián Borja in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sebastián Borja has his answer from Barranquilla; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

The dugout

No hiding place for Omar Cassiani

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Cassiani, and the manager let it.

In brief

191 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Rodrigo Mina asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

Barranquilla get the job done against Valledupar

A 1‑0 win over Valledupar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The dugout

A satisfied Mateo Rodriguez

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Mateo Rodriguez could afford to be generous.

The dugout

No hiding place for Bréiner Pino

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bréiner Pino, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Daniel Castillo 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.

Market

Sebastián Guerra runs his contract down

4 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Barranquilla money.

In brief

190 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Nowhere to hide for Barranquilla

0‑3 against Fortaleza CEIF, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Sebastián Guerra has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Jhoynner Lozano asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Sebastián Guerra

“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.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Barranquilla

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mateo Rodriguez after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Daniel Castillo knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

189 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

11 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Howell Mena asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Player ratings

Both of them Daniel Castillo's — 8.91

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.91, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Match

Barranquilla leave it late against Deportes Quindio

Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 87th, and Deportes Quindio spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

Barranquilla cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ebaldo Pérez

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

Barranquilla get the job done against Deportes Quindio

A 2‑1 win over Deportes Quindio, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

In brief

188 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

4 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

Barranquilla find a way past Bogota

Bogota made Barranquilla work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout

No hiding place for Sebastián Caballero

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Caballero, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Jhon Navia

A mark of 7.82, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

Howell Mena named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Howell Mena is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

Howell Mena has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Barranquilla 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.

In brief

187 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Rodrigo Mina is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Rodrigo Mina: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Match

Cup progress for Barranquilla

A 0‑0 win over Deportivo Cali, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

The dugout

Sebastián Caballero says Barranquilla went back on their word

“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.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Sergio Uribe at 16 — 7.77

The hardest thing about being 16 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sergio Uribe did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 20. 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.

Match

Barranquilla find a way past Universitario Popayan

Universitario Popayan made Barranquilla work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Ebaldo Pérez

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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ebaldo Pérez

Marked 8.07 — 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.

In brief

186 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

18 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Sebastián Guerra has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Player ratings

Howell Mena pops up at the right end — 7.82

7.82, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Match

Once Caldas take the points off Barranquilla

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Alberto Higgins

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alberto Higgins, and the manager let it.

The dugout

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 Mateo Rodriguez to a room that had heard them before.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

185 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

11 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Howell Mena asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

The dugout

Jefferson Buitrago keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Barranquilla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Only the photograph left for Darwin Torres

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darwin Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Barranquilla come up short against Real Santander

Real Santander left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra 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.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Mina 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.

In brief

184 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

4 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Juan Camilo Chala takes the afternoon — 8.03

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Juan Camilo Chala provided it, and the 8.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Rodrigo Mina puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Barranquilla find a way past Union Magdalena

Union Magdalena made Barranquilla work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Daniel Castillo in the eights

A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

Squad

100 appearances for Sebastián Caballero

100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Squad

Sebastián Caballero slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Sebastián Caballero is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mateo Rodriguez on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

In brief

183 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sebastián Guerra puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Jhon Navia stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Jhon Navia and Barranquilla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Mateo Rodriguez on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mateo Rodriguez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Match

Barranquilla draw a blank against Alianza Petrolera

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Alianza Petrolera defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Market

Sebastián Guerra runs his contract down

6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Barranquilla money.

The dugout

Rodrigo Mina left out for tactical reasons at Barranquilla

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

182 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Sebastián Guerra

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sebastián Guerra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Barranquilla

5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Market

Juan Uribe steps up from the Barranquilla academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Juan Uribe 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.

Market

Barranquilla promote Alfredo Rodriguez from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alfredo Rodriguez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Felipe Moreno steps up from the Barranquilla academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Felipe Moreno 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.

Boardroom

Barranquilla let a promise lapse

A date was given and it came and went. Nobody upstairs will call it a broken promise, and nobody downstairs will call it anything else for a long time.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jhoynner Lozano

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhoynner Lozano, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

No investment in the facilities at Barranquilla

Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.

In brief

181 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Gomez out for 20 days

20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Barranquilla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Howell Mena puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

One of our own: Leonardo Lopez joins the Barranquilla first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leonardo Lopez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

One of our own: Pablo Murillo joins the Barranquilla first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pablo Murillo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

In brief

180 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Gomez out for 27 days

27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Barranquilla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano says Barranquilla went back on their word

“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.

Market

Rodrigo Mina puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Luigi Ortiz stays at Deportivo Cali as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Barranquilla will try again when the window opens; Deportivo Cali may not be selling by then.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

Squad

Alexander Riascos 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Barranquilla take the armband off Sebastián Guerra

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.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastián Guerra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Talks stall between Barranquilla and Jhoynner Lozano

“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.

In brief

179 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Nicolas Gomez damages knee ligaments — 34 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.

Market

Sebastián Guerra asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Market

Barranquilla turn down Atletico Nacional for Sebastián Guerra

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Jhon Navia has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Manuel Loaiza will not be coming to Barranquilla

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Deportivo Pereira is saying, and nobody at Barranquilla is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Market

Darwin Torres attracts admirers

The name of Darwin Torres has come up in conversations Barranquilla were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alberto Higgins

“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.

Boardroom

$1.6M lands at Barranquilla thanks to José Luis Caicedo

A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Barranquilla $1.6M. José Luis Caicedo left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.

In brief

178 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

24 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Nicolas Gomez out for 41 days

41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Barranquilla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Sebastián Guerra has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Luigi Ortiz rejects the move

Barranquilla had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Deportivo Cali, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Jhoynner Lozano

“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.

In brief

177 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

17 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Howell Mena asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Market

Santa Fe come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Barranquilla did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Jordan Barrera honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Barranquilla had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Market

Darwin Torres has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Sebastián Caballero

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Caballero, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Jhon Cortez knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jhon Cortez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The shop window has Bryan Padilla in it

Barranquilla have let the market know Bryan Padilla can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

In brief

176 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

10 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sebastián Guerra agrees terms with Atletico Nacional

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Barranquilla people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Rodrigo Mina 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Samuel Atehortúa is a medical away from Barranquilla

The deal with Deportivo Pereira 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.

Market

Sebastián Guerra wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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 dugout

No hiding place for Jhon Cortez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhon Cortez, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Jhoynner Lozano is on it.

The dugout

Sebastián Caballero 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.

In brief

175 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

3 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jhon Navia has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Jefferson Buitrago puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

Market

Talks stall between Barranquilla and Sebastián Guerra

“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 dugout

When it matters, Jordan Barrera plays

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.

Squad

Bryan Padilla is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Bryan Padilla has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

The dugout

José Guerrero 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.

The dugout

Jhon Navia 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

174 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Phillippe Oviedo says Barranquilla went back on their word

“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.

Market

Howell Mena wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Daniel Castillo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Castillo, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Jhon Navia 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

173 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Mohamed Bolivar puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Darwin Torres

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darwin Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Alexander Riascos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Daniel Castillo knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

172 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

12 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Rodrigo Mina asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

171 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

5 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jhon Navia has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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 dugout

Jordan Barrera has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Barranquilla 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 dugout

Jhon Cortez 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.

The dugout

Alberto Higgins knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alberto Higgins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

170 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Sebastián Caballero

“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.

In brief

169 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

22 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Mohamed Bolivar 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Darwin Torres has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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.

The dugout

Sebastián Caballero 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

168 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

15 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Rodrigo Mina 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Jhon Navia

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Jhoynner Lozano is on it.

The dugout

Fabián Correa 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.

In brief

167 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jhon Navia is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Sebastián Guerra has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Barranquilla can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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 dugout

No hiding place for Daniel Castillo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Castillo, and the manager let it.

The dugout

When it matters, Jordan Barrera plays

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.

Squad

Rodrigo Mina 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.

In brief

166 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

1 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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 dugout

No hiding place for Sebastián Guerra

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Guerra, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

Mohamed Bolivar knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohamed Bolivar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Still no ink between Barranquilla and José Guerrero

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Barranquilla, another week without a signature from José Guerrero.

Market

The shop window has Mohamed Bolivar in it

Barranquilla have let the market know Mohamed Bolivar can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

In brief

165 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Darwin Torres

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Darwin Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Howell Mena has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Barranquilla can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

Alberto Higgins 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.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastián Guerra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

164 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Rodrigo Mina 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Phillippe Oviedo keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Barranquilla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Mina 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 dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Jhoynner Lozano is on it.

The dugout

Alberto Higgins 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.

In brief

163 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Mohamed Bolivar 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhon Navia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhon Navia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Jordan Barrera has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Barranquilla 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 dugout

Bréiner Pino 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.

In brief

162 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 88% of everything Barranquilla 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 dugout

Juan Camilo Chala knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Camilo Chala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Barranquilla put Mohamed Bolivar up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mohamed Bolivar may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

Boardroom

The Barranquilla production line keeps running

39 graduates out of an academy now rated 9 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.

In brief

161 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

27 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Darwin Torres has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Howell Mena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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.

The dugout

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

Sebastián Caballero has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sebastián Caballero has written the date down.

In brief

160 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

20 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Barranquilla have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Sebastián Caballero

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Caballero, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Daniel Castillo 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 dugout

When it matters, Jhoynner Lozano plays

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.

In brief

159 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

13 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jhon Navia has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Barranquilla promote Kevin Barrios from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kevin Barrios has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

One of our own: Oscar Ospina joins the Barranquilla first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Oscar Ospina is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Barranquilla promote Richard Cordoba from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Richard Cordoba has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

The dugout

No hiding place for Sebastián Guerra

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Guerra, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Alexander Riascos 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 dugout

When it matters, Jordan Barrera plays

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 dugout

Daniel Castillo knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Castillo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

158 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

6 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Mohamed Bolivar asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Market

Barranquilla may not be able to give Sebastián Guerra what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Guerra wants continental football; whether Barranquilla can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Camilo Chala and Barranquilla agree another 4 years.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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.

Squad

A muscle injury and 15 days out for Daniel Torres

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Barranquilla will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

The dugout

Alberto Higgins 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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 96% of the Barranquilla 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.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

157 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

30 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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.

Boardroom

Barranquilla beat the market to Sebastian Torres from Junior

Junior will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Sebastian Torres has pre-agreed a move to Barranquilla, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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.

Squad

No place for Bryan Padilla in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Barranquilla are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

Market

A long bet from Barranquilla on Victor Savarino

He is 19, and nobody at Barranquilla signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

Market

Barranquilla sign Ricardo Acosta, one for the future

Ricardo Acosta is 17, and Barranquilla have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.

Market

Talks stall between Barranquilla and Bryan Padilla

“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.

In brief

156 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

23 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Barranquilla close the window on a squad of their own making

0 in and 6 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.

Market

Phillippe Oviedo is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Barranquilla may not be able to give Howell Mena what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Howell Mena wants continental football; whether Barranquilla can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Fabián Correa 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 dugout

Jhoynner Lozano 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 Jhoynner Lozano is on it.

In brief

155 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

16 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Terms done: César Bravo is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Envigado waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhon Navia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhon Navia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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 dugout

When it matters, Jordan Barrera plays

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 dugout

Juan Camilo Chala knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Juan Camilo Chala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

154 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

9 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Carlos Durán agrees terms with Deportivo Pereira

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Barranquilla people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

César Bravo 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Howell Mena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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 dugout

Sebastián Caballero 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.

Squad

José Guerrero signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” José Guerrero and Barranquilla agree another 3 years.

Boardroom

102% of the income goes out in wages at Barranquilla

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 dugout

Jhoynner Lozano knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jhoynner Lozano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Questions about Sebastián Caballero on the training pitch

The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.

In brief

153 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

2 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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.

Squad

Barranquilla lose Darwin Torres

25 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

José Guerrero stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” José Guerrero and Barranquilla agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Boardroom

9 new boys at the Barranquilla academy

Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.

The dugout

Mohamed Bolivar 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.

The dugout

Carlos Durán 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 Carlos Durán is on it.

The dugout

Fabián Correa 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.

In brief

152 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

25 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Jaguares come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Barranquilla did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Rodrigo Mina asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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.

Squad

Barranquilla count the cost of losing Victor Quintero

32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Barranquilla count the cost of losing Javier Torres

14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Boardroom

Barranquilla bank $293.3K from an old deal

The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Joel Canchimbo is somebody else's player now, and $293.3K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.

The dugout

Jhoynner Lozano has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Barranquilla 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 dugout

No hiding place for Phillippe Oviedo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Phillippe Oviedo, and the manager let it.

Squad

Young player of the week: Julian Murillo

At 15 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.

In brief

151 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

18 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Julian Murillo could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.81

Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.81, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.

Match

Full time on the season at Barranquilla

Position 4 on 34 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Player ratings

Both of them Jordan Barrera's — 8.47

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.47, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhon Navia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhon Navia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

Jordan Barrera sends Barranquilla past Tigres

It finished 4‑3, and it was Jordan Barrera’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Barranquilla.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Barranquilla and Tigres in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Howell Mena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Jordan Barrera

He is 23 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.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra 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.

In brief

150 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Carlos Durán says no to Alianza Petrolera

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Carlos Durán had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Market

César Bravo has said yes to Envigado

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Barranquilla have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

César Bravo asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Transfer targets

Sebastián Herrera turns down Barranquilla

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Junior keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Guerra 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Barranquilla against Aguilas Doradas

1‑2 to Aguilas Doradas, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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 dugout

No hiding place for Sebastián Caballero

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Caballero, and the manager let it.

In brief

149 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

4 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Both of them Daniel Castillo's — 8.74

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.74, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. 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.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Sebastián Guerra wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

7 unbeaten for Barranquilla

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Barranquilla did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

Daniel Castillo the difference as Barranquilla beat Real Santander

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daniel Castillo. 3‑1 against Real Santander, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

Barranquilla supporters have found a favourite in Daniel Castillo

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniel Castillo 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.

Market

Persik watching César Bravo

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Barranquilla have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

In brief

148 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Phillippe Oviedo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

6 unbeaten for Barranquilla

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Barranquilla did not have in the autumn.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Howell Mena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

William Mosquera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Jhoynner Lozano sends Barranquilla past Alianza Petrolera

It finished 1‑0, and it was Jhoynner Lozano’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Barranquilla.

Player ratings

Jordan Barrera beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Jhoynner Lozano was the difference for Barranquilla

Marked 7.82. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mateo Rodriguez kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

No hiding place for Juan Camilo Chala

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juan Camilo Chala, and the manager let it.

In brief

147 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

A brace, and Jhoynner Lozano takes the afternoon — 8.31

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jhoynner Lozano provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Jhon Navia is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Howell Mena has his eye on Europe

It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Barranquilla can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

The dugout

The team sheet said everything about Daniel Castillo

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 Daniel Castillo.

Match

Barranquilla caught on 88 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Bogota scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

Squad

Alejandro Rangel out for 26 days

The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Alejandro Rangel, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

146 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

14 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

César Bravo puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

news_h_frozen_out_of_the_side

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The dugout

César Bravo keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Barranquilla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Boardroom

Barranquilla to lose Phillippe Oviedo for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Phillippe Oviedo 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.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jordan Barrera

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sebastián Caballero

“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.

Boardroom

86% of the income goes out in wages at Barranquilla

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.

Match

Honours even between Barranquilla and Universitario Popayan

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

145 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

William Mosquera 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Darwin Torres has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sebastián Guerra 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Jordan Barrera

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Jordan Barrera sends Barranquilla past Union Magdalena

It finished 2‑0, and it was Jordan Barrera’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Barranquilla.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Jordan Barrera at his very best

Marked 8.35. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Barranquilla.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

One of those days for Carlos Durán

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Ebaldo Pérez

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ebaldo Pérez has come out of that comparison in the side, and Barranquilla have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Jordan Barrera has become a man the manager trusts
  • Market No place for Iván Balanta in the plan
144 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Only the photograph left for Phillippe Oviedo

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Phillippe Oviedo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Barranquilla

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

The dugout

Jordan Barrera 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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Rodriguez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Barranquilla dressing room was either.

The dugout

Jordan Barrera does not fit this one

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.

Match

Barranquilla and Valledupar cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Valledupar came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

143 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhon Navia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhon Navia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. 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.

Market

Iván Balanta asks to leave Barranquilla

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Barranquilla count the cost of losing Alejandro Rangel

54 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Mateo Rodriguez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Barranquilla dressing room was either.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Mina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

When it matters, Jhoynner Lozano plays

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 dugout

Roque Viloria 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.

In brief

142 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

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news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Barranquilla against Leones

0‑1 to Leones, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Juan Camilo Chala 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

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 Mateo Rodriguez left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Barranquilla keep their word to Jhoynner Lozano

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.

The dugout

Mohamed Bolivar 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.

Match

Barranquilla in the hunt for Europe

Position 6, 18 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.

In brief

141 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

William Mosquera 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

A defender's goal wins it for Barranquilla — 7.76

1 for Sebastián Caballero, marked 7.76, 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.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Howell Mena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Sebastián Caballero

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

The dugout

No hiding place for Howell Mena

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Howell Mena, and the manager let it.

Match

Barranquilla get the job done against Depor

A 1‑0 win over Depor, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Ebaldo Pérez was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. 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

  • Player ratings The afternoon belonged to Jhon Navia
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Jordan Barrera has become a man the manager trusts
140 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Ebaldo Pérez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.95

A mark of 7.95 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.

Market

César Bravo 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 Barranquilla can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Phillippe Oviedo is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

4 matches without a win for Barranquilla

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Barranquilla are no longer polite ones.

Market

Barranquilla may not be able to give Sebastián Guerra what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Sebastián Guerra wants continental football; whether Barranquilla can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Match

Tigres take the points off Barranquilla

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Match

Barranquilla at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 6, 15 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

In brief

139 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Jhon Navia is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

Barranquilla come up short against Aguilas Doradas

Aguilas Doradas left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

100 appearances for Yeferson Moreno

100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

Squad

Ebaldo Pérez 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

No hiding place for Sebastián Caballero

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sebastián Caballero, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Jhon Navia

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

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 Mateo Rodriguez left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

When it matters, Jhoynner Lozano plays

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.

In brief

138 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Barranquilla up to position 3

15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Barranquilla may not be able to give Howell Mena what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Howell Mena wants continental football; whether Barranquilla can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Howell Mena 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.

Match

Barranquilla come up short against Real Santander

Real Santander left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jhoynner Lozano

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhoynner Lozano, and the manager let it.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra gifts one

A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Sebastián Guerra is still being punished for one mistake
  • Market Rodrigo Mina is free to find somewhere else
137 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Jordan Barrera out for 18 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

William Mosquera puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Rodrigo Mina: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Barranquilla have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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 ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Barranquilla against Alianza Petrolera

0‑1 to Alianza Petrolera, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Looking ahead

The big one: Real Santander come into view

Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Barranquilla will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.

The dugout

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 Mateo Rodriguez left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

136 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jordan Barrera out for 26 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

The view from the top for Barranquilla

15 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.

Market

Phillippe Oviedo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Howell Mena stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Howell Mena and Barranquilla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

Howell Mena 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.

Match

Javier Ortíz sends Barranquilla past Bogota

It finished 3‑1, and it was Javier Ortíz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Barranquilla.

The terraces

Barranquilla supporters have found a favourite in Juan Diego Verdeza

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Juan Diego Verdeza 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Daniel Castillo at his very best

Marked 8.31. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Barranquilla.

In brief

  • Player ratings Jhon Navia was unplayable
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Jhon Cortez
135 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jordan Barrera breaks a bone — 33 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Barranquilla out of the cup

Millonarios ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Market

Jhon Navia is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

6 saves: Sebastián Guerra was the team

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.

Match

4 matches without a win for Barranquilla

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Barranquilla are no longer polite ones.

Player ratings

Jhon Navia beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

César Bravo’s move to Epicentr falls through

The deal that would have taken César Bravo to Epicentr has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Barranquilla with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Howell Mena was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

In brief

134 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jordan Barrera out for 40 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

The dugout

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Match

Whatever happens, Barranquilla do not lose

8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sebastián Guerra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

Eyes on César Bravo again

The phone has started ringing about César Bravo again, and this time the name on the line is Epicentr. Barranquilla are listening politely and promising nothing.

Match

Barranquilla refuse to lose to Union Magdalena

A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Ebaldo Pérez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Barranquilla share the spoils with Union Magdalena

A 2‑2 draw with Union Magdalena leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Player ratings

Sebastián Caballero will replay that one

1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.

In brief

133 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

12 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

48 days out for Jordan Barrera after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Barranquilla will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

William Mosquera puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Match

Whatever happens, Barranquilla do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Navia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ebaldo Pérez

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

No hiding place for Jhoynner Lozano

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhoynner Lozano, and the manager let it.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Javier Ortíz

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Barranquilla told Javier Ortíz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

132 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Jordan Barrera breaks a bone — 55 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Barranquilla run riot against Fortaleza CEIF

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

Jordan Barrera takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Boardroom

An order from above at Barranquilla: somebody has to go

Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.

Market

Phillippe Oviedo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

Barranquilla cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Jordan Barrera at his very best

Marked 9.94. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Barranquilla.

Squad

Jose Santos 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.

In brief

131 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Daniel Torres out for 16 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhon Navia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhon Navia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Sebastián Guerra wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ebaldo Pérez

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Rodrigo Mina 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.

Match

Barranquilla find a way past Leones

Leones made Barranquilla work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout

Jefferson Buitrago 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 ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Juan Camilo Chala

7.63, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Barranquilla had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

A satisfied Mateo Rodriguez

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Mateo Rodriguez could afford to be generous.

In brief

130 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

22 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Daniel Torres breaks a bone — 23 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

César Bravo has said yes to PSM

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Barranquilla have lost him in all but the paperwork.

The dugout

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Player ratings

Jhon Navia was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 24. 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.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

5 academy graduates step up at Barranquilla

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

Squad

Alberto Higgins stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alberto Higgins and Barranquilla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A row about effort at Barranquilla

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Mina was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Jordan Barrera

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.

In brief

129 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

30 days out for Daniel Torres after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Barranquilla will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Darwin Torres is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Barranquilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Howell Mena wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Tempers go at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Keiner Arias

Barranquilla asked and Deportivo Pereira said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Jhon Navia 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.

Squad

Johan Brausin stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Johan Brausin and Barranquilla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

No hiding place for Rafael Arias

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rafael Arias, and the manager let it.

The dugout

William Mosquera knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and William Mosquera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

128 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Daniel Torres out for 37 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Barranquilla will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

César Bravo says no to Valledupar

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. César Bravo had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Market

Phillippe Oviedo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Words exchanged at Barranquilla

Juan Camilo Chala 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.

Squad

Jefferson Buitrago signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jefferson Buitrago commits to Barranquilla for another 4 years.

Transfer targets

Leones tell Barranquilla: Andrés Monsalve is not for sale

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.

Squad

Rodrigo Mina 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.

Market

One of our own: Cristian Duque joins the Barranquilla first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cristian Duque is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Victor Quintero steps up from the Barranquilla academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Victor Quintero 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.

In brief

127 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

1 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

César Bravo has said yes to Bogota

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Barranquilla have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Only the photograph left for Jhon Navia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jhon Navia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Barranquilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Jordan Barrera honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Barranquilla had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

The dugout

Phillippe Oviedo: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Barranquilla have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Barranquilla

Sebastián Guerra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Remember the name: Ebaldo Pérez

He is 21, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

Transfer targets

Barranquilla rebuffed over Ronaldo Herrera

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Depor have kept their man, and Barranquilla go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Mina 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Rodrigo Mina

“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.

In brief

126 Edition

The Barranquilla Gazette

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Darwin Torres has said yes to Deportivo Pasto

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Barranquilla have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

José Munive puts it in writing

“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 Barranquilla, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Transfer targets

Santiago Rátiva will not be coming to Barranquilla

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Tigres is saying, and nobody at Barranquilla is enjoying the guessing.

Market

Alex Mosquera has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Barranquilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Sebastián Guerra 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 Barranquilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Bogota tell Barranquilla: David Reyes is not for sale

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.

Squad

Words at Barranquilla training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Navia 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Johan Brausin

“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.

In brief